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View of Market Street, Looking East, Before Disaster. 



AUTHENTIC MEMORIAL EDITION OFFICIAL 

COMPLETE STORY 

OF THE 

SAN FRANCISCO 
EARTHQUAKE 

The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Other 
Volcanic Outbursts and Earthquakes 

INCLUDING ALL THE GREAT DISASTERS OF HISTORY 

The Marvellous Phenomena of Nature 
and the Strange Inventions of Mankind 

By MARSHALL EVERETT 

The Great Descriptive Writer and Historian 

Embracing a Full Account in Pictures and Story of the Awful Disaster 
that Befell the City of San Francisco and all the other Towns and Cities 
Shocked by the fatal Earthquake, April 18, 1906 

With a Full Account of the Generous Aid Supplied to the 
Sufferers by the People of the United States 

ILLUSTRATED WITH : ;"• 

A Vast Gallery of Startling Pictures 

INCLUDING VIEWS OF THE CITY BE- 
FORE AND AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE 

Copyright 1906 by HENRY NEIL, CHICAGO 

THE BIBLE HOUSE 

323 Dearborn Street ----- CHICAGO 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS! 


Two Copies Receive: ] 


JAN 21 


1908 j 


OURS* XXc, ftu. 

/W 5/3 

COPY B. 




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Central Portion of Magnificent $7,000,000 City Hall as It Appeared Before the 

Earthquake. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



Urged by survivors of the dread catastrophe that befell the imperial city 
of the Golden Gate to write the story of their fearful hardships and suffer- 
ings, and of the fate that befell their loved ones, I have undertaken the task 
of presenting it in permanent, historic form. 

The work will include sad recitals of carnage — of remarkable escapes 
from death, and thrilling experiences of brave men who risked life and limb 
to save their fellow sufferers. It will deal with fortunes swept away in a 
moment; with a nightmare that settled down on a fairy-like city in the 
space of a breath and left it waste ; with the almost superhuman manfulness 
that awoke in the breasts of the poor, homeless, wretched victims of nature's 
wrath and stirred them to resolution to rebuild stronger, better, grander 
than before. 

It shall be my endeavor to gather the actual facts pertaining to this 
terrible and overpowering affair. With a profound sense of appreciation, 
acknowledgment is made of the assistance and co-operation I have received 
from the highest officials and from leading experts and scientists versed in 
seismic lore. Through their courtesy and assistance I have been able to 
secure data and special information relating to this greatest of modern 
disasters, which can only be found in this volume. The task of preparing 
a book of this kind is necessarily trying, and one of mournful interest, 
keeping constantly in mind, as it does, the peculiarly sad and heart-rending 
features that characterized this horror of April 18. 

Once glorious 'Frisco, with aching heart and head bowed in grief o'er the 
graves of its unnumbered dead, awakens the pity of the entire globe in this 
her hour of sorrow and need — sorrow and need brought on by a holocaust 
without parallel in the history of the new world, or, in fact, in modern times. 

One fact and one alone stands forth to relieve the gruesome mournfulness 
of the hour — the prompt generosity of the world at large in hurrying to the 
assistance of the stricken, wrecked, flame-battered city of dead and dying. 
Never before, perhaps has an occasion arisen when the fellowship of man and 
the spirit of true brotherhood has been so fully and so nobly illustrated. 

San Francisco the beautiful, a sparkling gem reflecting the radiance of 
the evenino- sun sinking in a golden shimmer in the calm Pacific, has fallen. 
Her glory, wealth, strength and proud position among the big cities of the 



8 AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

globe have been stripped from her, and she is all but desolate. The charity 
of the world has alone prevented utter desolation. San Francisco and her 
sister cities may have not been sacrificed in vain. The spirit of compassion, 
of helpfulness, of true charity awakened wherever the clicking telegraph key 
flashed the word of California's loss, will not die. Nor will the spirit of inquiry 
and investigation that was aroused. Man will learn more of the secrets of 
nature. He will wrest them from her jealous grasp and will build accord- 
ingly. Thousands of lives will be saved tomorrow as the fruit of each lost 
yesterday. 

While this book is intended to be a fitting memorial in commemoration 
of the tragic and historic event it is my hope and firm belief that its wide 
circulation will be an instrument for great good. It will contribute its share 
in giving impetus to that spirit of inquiry and will contribute its quota 
toward disseminating such knowledge as we possess relating to seismic- 
disturbances. 

In this belief and the firm hope the end will be attained, this volume is 
prepared. Before concluding this brief foreword it is only proper to call 
attention to the debt of gratitude I owe brave survivors of the dread visita- 
tion for the aid they have given me in its preparation. In grateful acknowl- 
edgment of their efforts, I respectfully dedicate the book to them. 

MARSHALL EVERETT. 
San Francisco, 1906. 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE 



While the embers of one of the most heart-rending disasters of modern 
times are still warmly glowing its history has been caught from the lips 
of the survivors and embalmed in book form. The deep and far-reaching 
effects of the California casualty will not be eradicated, if much softened, for 
another generation. That this is true must be realized, when it is remem- 
bered in how many ways nature and circumstance seemed to combine to 
destroy the devoted masses of humanity who met death. The shock and 
grind of the heaving earth and the horrors of fire take on a fateful, fantastic 
irony when one recalls that there was water everywhere about San Francisco 
and not an available drop in the service pipes. 

Calamity proves the kinship of the world. In the presence of disaster 
differences are lost sight of, enmity ceases, and the great heart of all mankind 
throbs in sympathy with the afflicted ones. Any event that brings the world 
together, though it be but for a moment, and though the sacrifice of human 
life precede it, not only deserves but demands to be recorded that the present 
and future generations may read of it. 

And so, believing that the people of today and of tomorrow demand an 
authentic account of the destruction of San Francisco and of other similar 
catastrophes, we offer this volume to the public. Endorsed as it is by the 
survivors of the catastrophe, whose personal knowledge covers every phase 
of the record here presented, it commends itself to the consideration of every 
reader who would have an accurate account of the terrible holocaust of 
April 1 8, 1906. 

It is the aim to give this book an educational value that will accord it an 
honored position in the library in every home, where it will remain a perma- 
nent fixture — a fount of information, a never ending source for reference pur- 
poses and an inspiration to those who believe a Divine Intelligence rules the 
universe and that it is man's destiny to attain complete knowledge of the 
principles governing physical changes in this world. A glance through its 
pages will startle those who have given little or no thought to this subject, 
for the globe on which we dwell has changed with the passing years through- 
out all the ages. It is changing still and the horror of yesterday was merely 
a manifestation of it. 

11 



12 PUBLISHERS' PREFACE 

Man must build with these changes in mind. It is difficult to understand 
how he has the temerity to do otherwise, in view of the story of the past — 
a story that is made up of chapter after chapter of tragedy in which human 
life has paid the forfeit of ignorance. All this is recounted in great detail in 
this book. 

It is not only the story of the destruction of San Francisco, but the story 
of other great disasters as well, and will prove a valuable reference work in 
that line. The causes of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes are 
set forth and made clear to the general reader not familiar with scientific 
theories, ^"e have made it accurate, and have tried to make it interesting 
and instructive. How well we have succeeded we leave to the judgment of 
that public which has bestowed such generous approval upon our efforts in 
the past. 

As this is the only permanent publication to present the holocaust to the 
world, in all its startling completeness, the publishers trust, even in the 
midst of the deep gloom that pervades the country, that they will prove 
no ineffective agents in forwarding this work for the protection of the present 
and future generations. 

It would seem that all that is necessary to bring about a world-wide 
awakening over this deeply vital question is to present to the public the true 
picture of the California disaster, as has been done in this volume. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 




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CONTENTS 



Author's preface 7 

Publishers' preface II 

CHAPTER I. 

Earthquake and Fire Descend Upon San Francisco and the Surrounding 
Cities of California, Causing Enormous Loss of Life and Property — ■ 
Shock of Death Comes in the Early Dawn — People Flee from Their 
Beds in Terror to Face Crashing Walls — Heaving Earth Shatters 
Gas and Water Pipes, Releasing Noxious Fumes and Kindling 
Countless Fires in the Ruins of the Once Beautiful "Fairy City of 
the Golden Gate" — First Shock Followed by Worse Terrors — Fu- 
rious Flames Sweep Over Doomed City — Firemen Baffled by Lack of 
Water — Dynamite Used in Vain — Dead Abandoned to the Advanc- 
ing Cyclone of Fire — Night Falls on a Scene Rivaling Dante's "In- 
ferno" — Vandals and Ghouls Appear — Looting and Rioting Add to 
Hellish Scene — Police Powerless ; Troops Called — Corpses Every- 
where — Man's Utter Helplessness Demonstrated — Denizens of For- 
eign Quarter Battle With Fury of Fiends — Mobs Fight at Ferries, 
While Dreary Procession of Refugees Trails Southward to Escape. . 49 

CHAPTER II. 

"San Francisco the Beautiful" — Mecca of the Argonauts and Gem of the 
Pacific — Magnificent Metropolis of the Western Coast — Most Cos- 
mopolitan City of the World — From Sand Dunes to a Fairyland of 
Palaces — Unique in Its Attractions Offered to Sightseers — Humble 
Start of Many of Its Millionaires — Magnificent Harbor That Domi- 
nated the Shipping of the Western Sea — Kipling's World-famed 
Characterization Recalled — Famed for Beautiful Women and Bounti- 
ful Living 68 

CHAPTER III. 

Personal Experiences of Survivors — Albert H. Gould's Harrowing Re- 
cital — Crash Like the Roll of Thunder as Giant Buildings Totter to 
Ground — Flight Through Darkness — Naked Women and Children 
Trampled in the Streets — J. R. Ritter, of Houston, Fights Way 
Through Fire Line — Two Hours of Madness — George F. Williams 



16 CONTENTS 

Makes Way Through Funeral Pyres — Death Preferable — Miss Agnes 
Zink Sees Hundreds Perish 76 

CHAPTER IV. 

Famous Structures Swept Away — Great Monuments to San Francisco's 
Push and Enterprise Fall Before Quake and Fire — Mansions of Mil- 
lionaires Drop Like Houses of Cards — Stanford, Huntington, Flood 
and Croker Homes Among the First to Go — Home of the Famous 
Bohemian Club No More — Giant Business Structures Consumed Like 
Chaff — Great Newspapers Fall a Prey to Flame 84 

CHAPTER V. 

Maniacs Killed by Hundreds — Scenes of Horror at Agnew's State In- 
sane Asylum, Santa Clara — Inmates Shriek in Terror in Cells — Walls 
Fall Under Second Shock— Aroused to Battle — Survivors Tied to 
Trees 90 

CHAPTER VI. 

Stanford University, Most Richly Endowed Educational Institution in ■ 
World, Laid Low — Monument of California Pioneer's Generosity — 
Memorial to Son — A Wonderland of Architectural Beauty — Long 
Struggle Over Millionaire's Estate — Faculty Faithful Through Years 
of Legal Strife — Noted Educator at Its Head — Near Site of Famous 
Palo Alto Breeding Farm — Magnificent Establishment Endowed in 
Perpetuity — Upheaval Wrecks All Save One Building, , 94 

CHAPTER VII. 

Horrors of the Seismic Disturbance Outside of San Francisco — San Jose 
Wrecked by Fateful Visitation — Santa Clara Falls Before Blow — 
Agnews Insane Asylum Crushes Unfortunate Inmates — Salinas 
Ruined — Leland Stanford University at Palo Alto Annihilated — 
Berkeley, Oakland and Brawley Suffer in Less Degree — Railroads 
and Drives Obliterated — Entire Garden Section Laid Waste and 
Transformed Into a Desert 100 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Exciting Escapes — Hurled from Bed by Shock — Hotel Rocked Like 
Cradle — Removing Dead Bodies — Beyond Power to Describe — City 
Doomed from First — Helen Dare's Weird and Horrifying Expe- 
riences — Soldiers Judges and Jury — Earth Seemed to Fall — Hospitals 
Full of Dying 106 



CONTENTS 17 

CHAPTER IX. 

Government Donates $2,000,000 for Relief of Stricken City — Prompt Re- 
sponse of Congress Unparalleled in History of National Legislation — 
Action Promptly Ratified by President Roosevelt — Text of Resolu- 
tions — Executive and Cabinet Show Their Sympathy for Devastated 
Communities — Other Federal Departments Quick to Offer Aid — 
Treasury Department Takes Immediate Steps to Avert Financial 
Crisis 120 

CHAPTER X. 

Human Vampires Shot Down — Ghouls Begin Their Awful Work After 
Confusion Seizes the People — Robbers of the Dead Are Slain by 
Soldiers and Policemen — Diamond Rings on Severed Fingers Found 
in Pockets of Men Killed by Guards — Guest of the Grand Hotel 
Watches the Loading of Drays With Human Bodies — Women Walk 
the Streets With Their Bare Feet Cut and Bleeding 124 

CHAPTER XI. 

Chicago, Remembering Days of '71, Leads in Offering Succor — Raises 
a King's Ransom for Relief of Suffering in Sister Cities of the 
Coast — Huge Committee, Organized on Day's Notice, Rushes Sup- 
plies to Starving Californians — Blow Falls Heavily on Local In- 
vestors — Thousands Pass Days of Suspense Awaiting Word from 
Dear Ones Imperiled in Wrecked and Blistered Zone 133 

CHAPTER XII. 

Men and Women Weep, Curse and Pray — Scenes Beyond Description 
Enacted Wdien Fire Begins Its Work of Destruction Recited by a 
Survivor — Great Buildings Crumble and Fall Before the Mighty 
Sweep of the Blaze — Earthcjuake Shocks and Dynamite Explosions 
Make Deadly Din — Crowds, Driven Insane by Horror and Fear, 
Stand in the Street and Laugh Mechanically — Huge Rocks Fly 
Through the Air, Striking Down Dozens of Fleeing Victims 137 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Shock Felt Around World — Delicate Scientific Instruments Record Ter- 
rific Seismic Disturbance Thousands of Miles Away — Marked at Na- 
tional Capital — Cause of Earthquake Is Given — How the Shocks 
Are Recorded — Startling Theories Advanced and Disputed — Blamed 
to Boiling Heart of Globe and Fracture of Shell 148 



18 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Bullet Brings Merciful Death — Mining Engineer Witnesses Shocking 
Sights — Policeman Shoots and Ends Sufferings of Poor Wretch 
Pinned Under Wreckage, With Fire Eating Away His Feet — Mad- 
dened Horses and Cattle Dash Through Crowded Streets, Trampling 
Down Human Beings — Persons Who Kneel to Pray Are Crushed 
to Earth by Falling Timbers — Agonized Women, Carrying Dead 
Babies in Their Arms, Vainly Plead for Assistance 150 

CHAPTER XV. 

General Plan of Relief — All America Rushes Money and Food to San 
Francisco — Fifty Million Dollars Quickly Pledged — Government 
Saves Hundreds from Starvation — Theaters Give Big Benefits — One 
Man Donates $1,000,000 — Thousands of Refugees Cared for in 
Nearby Places — Red Cross Distributes Immense Amount — Europe 
Offers Help — Kings and Queens Send Condolences 157 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Scientists Stand Aghast — Professor John Milne Has Startling Theory — 
May Be Caused by Earth Swerving Back Upon Axis — Vibrations 
Proved — Wabbling of Pole — Sunspots Blamed by Some — Vesuvius 
May Be Responsible — 140,000 Earthquakes Recorded — Science Gives 
No Warning — Appalling Roar Accompanies Shocks — Source Twenty 
Miles Below — How the Seismograph Does Its Work — Awful Power 
of Vibrations 170 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Looked for End of World — Many Sects and Superstitious People Gen- 
erally Foresaw Doom of Globe in California Crash — "Flying Rollers" 
Greeted Tidings With Brass Band — Alarmists Become Busy — Pre- 
pare for Death 185 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

All Classes Send Quick Aid — Intense Suffering of the Victims of Earth- 
quake and Fire Appeals to This and Other Nations — Food and 
Money Pour Into the Ruined District by Trainloads — None Too Poor 
or Too Lowly to Render Assistance — Millionaires and Laborers Vie 
With Each Other in Rushing Help to the Stricken — Unique Ways 
of Raising Cash to Relieve Distress — Chinese in the United States 
Forget Race Prejudice and Contribute Their Cash to the General 
Relief Fund 190 



CONTENTS 19 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Weird Incidents Amid Suffering — Pays $100 for a Carriage — Letters Go 
Without Stamps — Fat Man Carries Bird Cage — Misses Death by 
Few Inches — Goes With Coffin in Flight — Prima Donna Clad as a 
Man — Skyscrapers Stand Shock Best — Twelve Gored to Death — 
Woman "Waiting for Husband" 198 

CHAPTER XX. 

Loss, $500,000,000 — Rebuilding the City — Earthquake and Flame Sweep 
Away Property Valued at $500,000,000 — Insurance Companies Hit 
for More than $200,000,000 — Giant Concerns Rise to the Emergency 
and Pay Losses — Victims of the Disaster, Their Courage Unbroken, 
Begin Rebuilding the City Before the Ruins Are Cold — New 'Frisco 
a Rival of the World Renowned Paris from the Standpoint of 
Beauty .' 209 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Vesuvius — Beginning of Latest Eruption — Refugees Flock to Naples — 
Cardinal Furnishes Peasants Food — Scientist's Bravery in Face of 
Almost Certain Death — Naples Shaken to Foundations — Angry 
Women Mob a Church — Think King Effected Miracle — Faced Death 
from Famine — Likened to Dante's "Inferno" — Search Ruins for the 
Dead — Scenes of Beauty Around Vesuvius — Previous Disasters Due 
to Vesuvius — Eruptions Gain in Frequency 221 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Charleston Wrecked by Earthquake — City Laid in Ruins After Tremors 
Lasting Three Months — Many Killed and Immense Damage Done — 
Earth Undulates Constantly for Long Period — Scores of Women 
and Children Buried in Debris 245 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Johnstown's Fatal Flood — Disaster Comes After Warning — Nearly 23,000 
Perish in Deadly Trap — Deluge Rebounds and Fire Comes — Gorge 
at the Railroad Bridge — People Crazed by Their Sufferings 249 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Destruction of Galveston — Storm Breaks Over Fated Island — Deadly 
W r ork of Four Hours — Fury of the Hurricane — A Fearful Saturday 
Night — People Stunned ; Food Gone — What a Relief Party Saw 
Sunday Morning — Vampires and Thieves Held Sway — Looting and 



20 CONTENTS 

Plunder Everywhere — Bodies Consigned to the Flames — Supplies 
Delayed and People Starving 254 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Eruption of Mont Pelee — St. Pierre Falls Under Avalanche of Fire, 
Ashes and Lava — Great Tidal Wave Sweeps In — Steamer Wins Race 
With Death — Bodies Piled in Streets — Thousands Suffocated by 
Gas — Stirring Story of a Prisoner — St. Vincent Bathed in Flame. . . 262 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Great Earthquakes of History — List of Most Disastrous Seismic Dis- 
turbances — Shake Up in Ancient Sparta — At Antioch — The Crash of 
1755 — Fifty Thousand Slain at Lisbon 276 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

World's Disasters from Wind — Cyclones; Their Cause and Effect — Hur- 
ricanes — Hearn's Graphic Story — Tornadoes — How They Differ 
from Other Storms 285 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Mystery of Volcanoes — Millions of Lives the Toll — Awful List of Active 
Volcanoes — Light Shed on Mystery — Pompeii Eclipsed — Careful 
Study Made — Pacific Dotted With Volcanoes — Active Six Years at 
a Time — Many in United States 290 




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The Call Building When the Earth Trembled. 



COMPLETE STORY 

OF THE 

SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE 



CHAPTER I. 
DESTRUCTION OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

Earthquake and Fire Descend Upon San Francisco and the Surrounding Cities of California, 
Causing Enormous Loss of Life and Properly — Shock of Death Comes in the Early 
Dawn — People Flee from Their Beds in Terror, to Face Crashing Walls — Heaving Earth 
Shatters Gas and Water Pipes, Releasing Noxious Fumes and Kindling Fires in the 
Ruins of the Once Beautiful "Fairy City of the Golden Gate" — First Shock Followed 
by Worse Terrors — Furious Flames Sweep Over Doomed City — Firemen Baffled by 
Lack of Water — Dynamite Used in Vain — Dead Abandoned to the Advancing Cyclone 
of Fire — Night Falls on a Scene Rivaling Dante's Inferno — Vandals and Ghouls 
Appear — Looting and Rioting Adds to Hellish Scene — Police Powerless; Troops Called 
— Corpses Everywhere — Man's Utter Helplessness Demonstrated — Denizens of Foreign 
Quarter Battle with Fury of Fiends — Mobs Fight at Ferries While Dreary Procession 
of Refugees Trails Southward to Escape. 

And he said go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the 
Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the 
rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earth- 
quake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a 
still small voice. — I Kings, 19: 11, 12. 

Destruction fell on San Francisco in almost every conceivable form. 
The heaving earth shattered the walls of its towering structures and brought 
them crashing down on the helpless people within. Combustion spread to 
the ruins and the fire fiend smote the wrecked city with merciless fury. 
Absence of water, famine and pestilence each lent their portion to the dismal 
tragedy. Maddened men and women of the lowest strata of society battled 
in the scarred and smoking ruins for plunder, while soldiery shot down the 
ghouls and looters. 

Such a scene can only be imagined after a midnight session with Dante. 
It was Inferno apotheosized. 

It followed a night of restful calm — a night during which the fairy city 
of the Golden Gate throbbed with the joy of life. Its palatial theaters were 
crowded. Its bright lights flashed from the highlands over the bay and 
adown the rugged passage to the western sea. 

Morning brought the transformation just after rosy dawn awakened 
early risers to their toil — and death. 

49 



50 EARTHQUAKES 

The first shock, which lasted almost five minutes, and which started the 
wrecking of the city, came just at daybreak, and through a day of terror the 
people fought, aided by soldiers, to check the following flames. At midnight 
the fire still burned fiercely in every direction, checked on two sides by the 
water of the bay, and held back from the other two and from the main 
residence districts by the half gale that had fanned its fury all day. 

The* firemen and the 4,000 soldiers who were fighting the flames and 
rescuing the dead and injured labored all day without water, for the earth- 
quake snapped the water mains and left the city helpless. 

Dynamite and powder were the only agencies left with which to battle. 
Many of the finest buildings in the city were leveled to the ground by terrific 
charges of explosives in the hopeless effort to stay the horror of fire. In this 
work heroic soldiers, policemen, and firemen were maimed or killed outright. 

FLAMES FURNISH ONLY LIGHT. 

With nightfall there was no light, except the glare of the flames — for • 
the gas plants were blown up or shut off for purposes of safety and the 
earthquake destroyed the machinery in the electric light works. 

Nearly a quarter of the population of the city either fled to the hills and 
other supposed points of greater safety — or were homeless in the streets. 

Martial law was proclaimed, nearly 4,000 soldiers patrolling the streets 
with orders to shoot all vandals. 

While the center of the earthquake was in San Francisco, the destruction 
and death covered the coast for miles, and the scenes in San Francisco were 
duplicated on a smaller scale in half a dozen of the nearer cities. 

As night descended upon the city of death and destruction the fact that 
there were no lights brought on fresh terror, which was accentuated by the 
third sharp shock, which came just before dark. 

As the flames spread into the residence districts people left their homes 
and fled to the parks and squares. 

The city resembled one vast shambles with the red glare of the fire 
throwing weird shadows across the worn and- panic-stricken faces of the 
homeless wandering the streets or sleeping on piles of mattresses and cloth- 
ing in the parks and on the sidewalks in those districts not yet reached by 
the fire. 

SCENE OF DIRE GRANDEUR. 

Forgetting for a moment the terrible suffering, physical and financial, 
that trailed in the wake of the disaster, the scene presented by the flames 
was one of unspeakable grandeur. 

Looking over the city from a high hill in the western addition the flames 
could be seen rolling skyward for miles and miles, while in the midst of the 
tongues of red fire could be seen the black skeletons and falling towers of the 
doomed buildings. At regular intervals the booming of the dynamite told of 
the work of the brave army of men attempting to save the city from complete 
annihilation. 




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52 EARTHQUAKES 

The troops from the Presidio, the Thirteenth infantry from Angel island, 
the coast artillery, and the militia patrolled the streets — with orders to shoot 
at any person seen robbing the dead or wounded or looting the wrecked 
stores — so that it practically was impossible to cross the streets. 

The worst feature of the night was that the temporary morgue and 
hospital, established in Mechanics' pavilion, crowded with the dead and 
injured, was threatened with destruction by fire. The troops, the firemen, 
and the police used dynamite to hold back the flames from the building. 

LEAVE DEAD TO BURN. 

Through all the streets automobiles and express wagons hurried, carry- 
ing the dead and injured to the morgues and the hospitals. At the morgue, 
in the hall of justice, scores of bodies were on the slabs. The flames rapidly 
approached this building and the work of removing the bodies to Jackson 
square, opposite, began. While the soldiers and police were carrying the 
dead to what appeared safe places, a shower of bricks from a building 
dynamited to check the progress of the sweeping flames injured many of the 
workmen and sent soldier after soldier hurrying to the hospital. The work 
of removing the bodies stopped and the remainder of the dead were left to 
possible cremation in the morgue. 

Offers of relief poured in all day — from every direction — but the city 
was isolated from the world except by telegraph. The railway traces for 
miles were destroyed, twisted, and contorted. In places the tracks sunk ten 
feet, in other places they w r ere torn to pieces. 

It was days before the city could communicate with its sister cities by 
railway, and appeals for food and fresh water to be sent by steamers from 
coast points were sent out. 

NUMBER OF DEAD NEVER KNOWN. 

It was many days before the complete story of the ruin wrought by the 
double calamity of earthquake and fire that visited San Francisco was realized 
and there will still remain untold countless tales of pitiful tragedy. The exact 
loss of life will never be known as hundreds of unfortunates were incinerated 
in the flames which made the rescue of those buried under toppling steeples 
and falling walls impossible. 

The first shock was at 5:13, and it came without warning save a slight 
reverberating roar, the motion of the earth being from east to west. The 
upheaval was gradual, and for a few seconds it seemed as if the entire city 
was being lifted slowly upward, and then, after perhaps five seconds of the 
sickening rising sensation the shock increased in violence. 

Chimneys began to fall, the houses trembled violently, swayed, and some 
fell with crashes. 

In an instant the panic. began. People driven from their beds ran 
unclothed into the streets, screaming, crying, and praying. They screamed 
to each other, begging for help and asking each other what had happened. 



EARTHQUAKES 53 

Many fled in terror to the basements — others fainted or fell terrorized in 
their own homes. They were safer than those who rushed into the streets at 
the first awakening — for these were struck down by showers of falling brick. 

BUILDINGS SWAY AND TUMBLE. 

Buildings tottered on their foundations. Some rose and fell, and, when 
falling, the fronts or sides burst out as if from explosions, hurling tons of 
brick, mortar, and timbers into the streets. Great rents opened in the 
ground. 

Those who remained indoors generally escaped death or injury, except 
in cases where the entire buildings collapsed, although hundreds were hurt 
by falling plaster, pictures, or flying glass. It is believed that there are 
more or less injured persons in every family in the city. 

The great skyscrapers stood the strain much better than the brick build- 
ings, or even the heavy stone ones, and but few of them were badly damaged 
by the first shock, most of them standing, with the terra cotta, brick, or stone 
filling burst out, mere skeletons of their former appearance, waiting for the 
fire to complete the destruction. 

There were exceptions even to this. The great eleven-story Monadnock 
office building, in course of construction, which adjoined the Palace hotel, 
was an exception, part of it falling while the rear wall collapsed, and great 
cracks were made across the front. 

DAWN LIGHTS UP HORROR. 

The dawn was just breaking when the terror was at its height. When 
the sun at last broke through the mist that drove in from the bay and the 
people saw and realized the devastation hope almost left them. 

Women lay down in the streets to await the death that seemed inevitable. 
Others fainted and lay where they fell. Humanity was forgotten, and the 
primal instinct of man seized on the people. 

The dead and helpless were left where they fell in that first wild frenzy 
of terror. Men in the delirium of fright leaped over forms that lay in their 
way and ran on, not knowing where they were going, impelled only by the 
dread of unseen horror and struggling for life. 

Before the first flush of horror had passed the thousands of persons, 
men, women, and children of every nationality and color were streaming 
down Market street to the ferries. Out on the bay away from the toppling, 
swaving buildings and the horror of death and desolation seemed the only 
place of safety. Order and sanity were thrown to the winds. 

None knew where to turn. They fled like panic-stricken animals towards 
any place that offered shelter, finding death or injury in the open streets, and 
fearing each instant that a new shock would bring their homes down upon 
them. 

At hundreds of places the streets had opened from the shock, especially 



54 EARTHQUAKES 

in the made land. At others, where the water mains had burst, basements 
were flooded, streets torn up, and buildings undermined. 

FLAMES BURST FROM RUINS. 

Hardly were the people of the hill district out of their houses when the 
dawn to the east was lit up in a dozen places by fires which had started in 
the business district below. The first of these came with a sheet of fire 
which burst out somewhere in the warehouse district, near the water front. 

Men from all over the upper part of town streamed down the hills to 
help. There were no cars running, and none could, for the slots of the cable 
cars and the very tracks were bent and tossed with the upheavals of the 
ground. 

The fire department responded. Chief Sullivan of the fire department 
w r as dead, killed by the cupola of the California hotel, which had fallen 
through the roof of the fire house where he was sleeping. His assistant 
rang in a general alarm. 

The firemen, making for the nearest points, got their hoses out. There 
was one rush of water and the flow stopped. 

The great water main, which carries the chief water supply of San 
Francisco, ran through the ruined district. It had been broken, and the use- 
less water was spurting up through the ruins in a dozen places. 

The firemen stood helpless, while fire after fire started in the ruined 
houses. Most of these seem to have been caused by the ignition of gas from 
the gas mains, which were also broken. The flames would rush up with 
astonishing suddenness, and then smolder in the slowly burning redwood of 
which three quarters of San Francisco was built. 

When day came the smoke hung over all the business part of the city. 
Farther out fires were going in the Hayes Valley, a middle class residence 
district, and in the old mission part of the city. 

FIGHT FIRE WITH DYNAMITE. 

Dynamite was the only thing left with which the fire might be fought 
and this was used wherever it was thought the flames might be checked. 

Mayor Schmitz, aroused from his bed by the shock, rushed to his office 
in the city hall, hurrying through showers of brick and stone — onlv to dis- 
cover that the new city hall, built at a cost of over $7,000,000, was a wreck. 

The roof had fallen, the walls were bulged, the towers — except the main 
dome — had crushed down into the courtyard, and the destruction seemed 
complete. 

His first appeal was for the troops from the Presidio, but he discovered 
that the police already had made the appeal. He then issued a sweeping 
order to close every saloon in the city, for already — within an hour after the 
first shock — the rougher element, the men from down the "Barbary coast," 
were beginning to recover from their terror, and it was feared that anarchy 
would add terror to the earthquake and the fire. 




Diagram of the Heart of San Francisco, Showing the District First Swept by the Flames. 



56 EARTHQUAKES 

Chief of Police Dinan got out the whole police force and Gen. Funston, 
acting on his own initiative, ordered out all the available troops in the 
Presidio military reservation. After a short conference the town was placed 
under martial law, a guard was thrown about the fire, and all the dynamite 
in the city was commandeered. 

FIRES DRIVEN TO CITY'S HEART. 

The day broke beautifully clear. The wind, which usually blows steadily 
from the west at that time of the year, took a sudden veer and came steadily 
from the east, sending the fire, which lay in the wholesale district along the 
water front, toward the heart of the city, where stood the modern, steel struc- 
ture buildings, mainly stripped of their cement shells. 

An outpost of the flames ran along Market street, leaping New Mont- 
gomery, and shot out toward the Palace hotel. At the same time a steady 
fire coming up from the south attacked from the rear. 

The Palace, holding perhaps 400 guests, besides its servants and house 
force, had stood the shock. The guests were all out before it came into dan- 
ger of the fire, and had either got across the bay before the fires cut off that 
means of egress or fled to the hills. Part of the Grand hotel, across the street 
from the Palace, was blown up in the attempt to stop the steady advance of 
flame. This checked it only for a time. 

By the middle of the forenoon the fire gripped the famous old Palace 
hotel, and was jumping on to the heart of the city, where on four corners 
stand the tall buildings of the three morning newspapers and the Mutual 
bank building. 

In the meantime there had been a second and lighter earthquake shock at 
8 o'clock, which had shaken down some walls already tottering and taken 
the heart out of many of the people who had hoped that the one shock would 
end it. 

HUNDREDS BURIED IN THEIR HOMES. 

How many buildings went down in these two shocks and how many 
people were killed will never be known. The world knows only the larger 
items of the catastrophe. Probably scores of little houses went down, burying 
four and five people in each. These little holocausts and some of the greater 
ones happened in an area about two blocks wide which runs south of Market 
street, the main thoroughfare, east to the water front. 

It was a district of little lodging houses inhabited mainly by sailors, 
interspersed with business houses. There seems to have been another center 
of disturbance in the mission district, much farther west, and there was heavy 
loss of life at that point. 

The Kingsley house, a crazy, cheap old hotel on Seventh street, between 
Mission and Howard, collapsed at the first shock. Seventy-five people were 
buried in the ruins. The firemen pulled some of them out alive, but most of 
them were left under the ruins. 



EARTHQUAKES 57 

The earth literally rose under the Valencia hotel at Seventeenth and 
Valencia in the mission district and the building came down. How many 
were killed there no one knows. The estimate runs as high as a hundred. 

WORST LIFE LOSS IN LITTLE WRECKS. 

In these little wrecks most of the lives were lost. The great business 
and municipal buildings were stripped or went down with little loss of life, 
owing to the time of day when the earthquake occurred. 

These made of San Francisco a picturesque ruin, choked with debris and 
fallen stone, long before the fire finished it. Chief of the wrecks was the 
great city hall, a stone pile which cost $7,000,000 and was nearly twenty years 
in building. Its dome fell, its walls were rent apart, and it was just a great 
jumble of fallen stone. 

Further down the street the new postofhce, a $2,000,000 building, was 
wrecked. 

The roof of the Hobart building fell in, but the Postal Telegraph oper- 
ators who occupied that building staid at their posts until they were driven 
out by the dynamiting of adjacent buildings. The top floor of the new 
Merchants' Exchange building fell in. 

FLAMES SWEEP OVER RUINS. 

The flames spread through the ruins with wonderful rapidity. San 
Francisco was paying for its carelessness in permitting the erection of 
wooden buildings in many districts, for it was in these districts that the 
flames, gaining great headway, grew until they leaped streets and attacked 
the majestic structures that had withstood the shock of the earthquake. 

The shock of fearful explosions of dynamite had added to the terror. 

The south side of Market street, from Ninth clown to the bay, was soon 
ablaze. A hundred fires — uniting until they became one — were raging in the 
Mission district. 

From the hills it seemed as if the entire business section of the city was 
in flames, and that everything was doomed. 

The flames were marching down Market street towards the bay, destroy- 
ing everything in the way. It was as if two columns of fire, one three blocks 
wide, the other four, were moving together down toward the water front. 

The flames leaped across Stevenson street and wrapped around the mag- 
nificent Claus Spreckels building, fifteen stories high, which was the finest 
building in San Francisco, and within a few minutes that was wrapped in 
flames from bottom to top, while the little wooden buildings around it merely 
helped to add to the magnificence of the bonfire which was consuming the 
most noticeable building in the city. 

COLUMNS OF FIRE SWEEP EVERYWHERE. 

The great columns of fire rushed down streets, turned corners, roared 
through a cross street, and then, leaping entire squares or blocks, rushed 
onwards to the wooden portion of the town nearer the river. 



58 EARTHQUAKES 

The Grand Opera House, wherein the preceding night Caruso sang 
with the Metropolitan Grand Opera Company in the opening opera of the 
engagement, was attacked, and all the expensive scenery and costumes were 
destroyed with the building. 

In the middle of the morning the whole Oakland fire department, answer- 
ing a call from San Francisco, came over on a special ferry boat. By that 
time there was a wall of fire between the water front and the main business 
district. They took to the wharves and marched far to the south before they 
found a way through the flames, and reached the San Francisco firemen, who 



STREETS CLOGGED WITH DEBRIS. 

The Oakland men were distributed through the town to attend to the 
lesser fires, which were all spreading to make San Francisco a city of flame. 
Every street was clogged with debris, so that often they had to cut a way 
with axes to get through the streets. There was an overpowering smell of 
gas everywhere from the broken mains. Now and again, these would catch 
fire, making a great spurt of fire which would catch in the debris. 

The first work of the firemen was to stop these leakages. They piled 
on them bags of sand, dirt, clods, even bales of cloth torn from the wreck- 
age of burning stores. In the middle of the morning, however, there came 
a report from the south louder and duller than the reports of the dynamite 
explosions. There followed a burst of flame against the dull smoke. 

The gas works had blown up and the tanks were burning. After that 
the gas leaks stopped. 

But the fire had beaten the firemen at the Palace hotel. The old red- 
wood building was burning and reaching out to the Examiner building at 
the corner of Third and Market streets, horn which it was but a jump 
across the street to the big Call building. That structure, like the Palace 
earlier in the day, was menaced from the rear also. 

DYNAMITE FAILS TO STOP FLAMES. 

The firemen dynamited a four story building housing railroad offices, 
which lay between the Palace and the Examiner building. That did not 
stop it. Just before noon the men in the newspaper offices who had reported 
for duty and were hanging on to the last, left the building. 

The east wind gave another spurt, and the fire caught the Call build- 
ing. Hardly were these burning and beyond hope before the wind switched 
to its normal southwest direction and the Chronicle building, northward 
across the street, caught fire. When this happened all the newspaper offices 
had been transferred to the Chronicle building, whose basement presses had 
somehow lasted through, and they were preparing to issue all the papers 
from the one office. Driven out of this last stand, they took to the hills 
or tried to get out to Oakland and a wire. 




A Unique House in San Francisco, Destroyed, 



60 EARTHQUAKES 

In addition to the main conflagration half a dozen others were raging, 
and seemed to be uniting into one great fire which would sweep clean all 
the low lying parts of the city. 

The hills district, where the well to do residents lived, was not spared, 
and there were ten or twelve small fires there. In this part of town there 
was some water from the hill reservoirs, and this, together with the slow 
burning quality of the redwood of which they were mostly built, seems to 
have saved these parts of the town, temporarily at least. 

Further down, in the flats of the Hayes valley, the fire ran fast through 
a thickly inhabited district of working people. In the midst of this district 
was St. Ignatius' church, the largest church on the Pacific coast. This caught 
early, and went up in a sheet of fire. Block after block in this part went up. 

The whole water front, except the fine big ferry building of the Southern 
Pacific company, burned to the ground, and this fire extended to the ware- 
house district, taking the stores of the Pacific trade. 

Another center of flame was California street, the financial district. 

ANCIENT MISSION WIPED OUT. 

The old adobe mission Dolores built more than a hundred years ago and 
the very nucleus of the old town of Yerba Buena was soon destroyed. The 
streets of the mission district were choked with debris in places. 

The explosion of the gas tanks was only a temporary check to the escap- 
ing gas, for in the afternoon it began to shoot out again through the broken 
mains. Wherever it rushed out there was a heavier fire or a new fire 
started. 

Firemen began to drop, choked with gas fumes. The militia, which 
had been ordered out, and the regulars dropped their guns and took their 
places. Men from the water department had been working all the morn- 
ing to make connections between the lower city and the hill reservoirs. 

They got it in the afternoon, and at about the time when the soldiers 
shut down martial law on the city, when the business district had become 
almost one great conflagration, and the telegraph operators, the correspond- 
ents, and the other people upon whom the world depended for the news 
of the catastrophe moved over to Oakland, the firemen were getting some 
streams on the flames. 

SHIPPING ESCAPES FLAMES. 

In the general disaster no one paid much attention to the shipping in 
the harbor. Hundreds of vessels lay tied up at the docks that fringe the 
city almost to the Golden Gate. They had plenty of warning, however, and 
most of them slipped their cables and slid out into the stream. 

While the water front fire took all the little buildings along the wharves 
and most of the warehouses, with their stores of wheat and merchandise, it 
missed the docks themselves and no vessels were burned. The .anchorage 
in the bav was crowded. 



EARTHQUAKES 61 

There was some indignation because certain ferryboats under orders 
refused to come into the docks and take people away when the troops per- 
mitted the refugees to leave the city. 

Fear of a tidal wave added to the terror in the town. 

Early in the day Mayor Schmitz, establishing headquarters in the Me- 
chanics' pavilion, issued orders that it should be transferred into a tem- 
porary hospital. 

As the morning advanced processions of injured, walking, creeping, or 
being carried, moved slowly in the direction of the hospitals. For the most 
part they were left to aid themselves. The hospitals were in confusion. 
Left in darkness and without heat or water, the patients were in a panic of 
fear, made greater because they could not help themselves and did not know 
what was happening. 

Organized work of caring for the dead and injured did not commence 
until the morning was well advanced. The city morgue was soon crowded. 
The mayor then ordered that Mechanics' pavilion, the scene of so many fa- 
mous prize fights, should be used as a temporary morgue. 

MECHANICS' PAVILION A MORGUE. 

In less than two hours more than ioo bodies taken from the ruins of 
the fallen buildings had been laid out on the floor. The dead were brought 
from every part of the city in every sort of vehicle. Inside the pavilion a 
corps of doctors and volunteer nurses labored with the injured brought in 
with the dead. 

In the first hour of the disaster many must have been killed by live 
wires. Almost all the electric light wires fell across the streets and the 
work they did was proved by the presence at the temporary morgue ci 
many corpses on whom the only mark was a burn about the hands or feet. 
This lasted for only an hour. After that the electric power was cut off. 

When the city awoke to a full realization of the fate that had befallen 
it and the fight to escape death became unanimous, thousands made for the 
banks, where their savings were deposited. Long before the usual hour of 
opening hundreds of the more daring were clamoring around the bank 
doors. 

But the banks did not open. To have opened meant the certainty of 
runs that would have sent many of them to the wall. Thousands left the 
city practically penniless, not knowing whether their savings would be 
swept away with their homes and business. 

The food problem was already troubling the authorities. Mayor Schmitz 
had ordered grocers and dairymen and bakers to hold their supplies at the 
disposition of the authorities. The food was distributed equally, rich and 
poor sharing alike. 

SCENES OF HORROR IN RUINED CITY. 

Of the scenes which marked the transformation of this, the gayest, most 



62 EARTHQUAKES 

careless city on the continent, into a wreck and a hell it is harder to write. 
The day started with a blind general panic. People woke with a start to 
find themselves floundering on the floor. 

In such an earthquake as this it is the human instinct to get out of doors, 
away from falling walls. They stumble across the floors of their heaving 
houses to find that even the good earth upon which they placed their reliance 
is swaying and rising and falling, so that the sidewalks crack and great 
rents open in the ground. 

The three minutes which followed were an eternity of terror. We learn 
here of at least two people who died of pure fright in that three minutes 
when there seemed no help in earth or heaven. 

There was a roar in the air like a great burst of thunder, and from all 
about came the crash of falling walls. It died down at last, leaving the earth 
quaking and quivering like jelly. 

Men would run forward, stop as another shock, which might be greater 
any moment, seemed to take the earth from under their feet, and throw them- 
selves face downward on the ground in a perfect agony of fear. It seemed 
to be two or three minutes after the great shock was over before people found 
their voices. 

There followed the screaming of women, beside themselves with terror, 
and the cries of men. With one impulse, people made for the parks, as far 
as possible from falling walls. The parks speedily became packed with 
people in their night clothes, who screamed and moaned at the little shocks 
which followed every few minutes. 

FLAMES RACE WITH DAWN. 

The dawn was just breaking, but there was no other light, for the gas 
and electric mains were gone and the street lamps were all out. But before 
the dawn was white there came a light from the east — the burning of the 
warehouse district. 

The braver men and those without families to watch over struck out half 
dressed, as they were. In the early morning light they could see the business dis- 
trict below them, all ruins and burning in five or six places. 

Through the streets from every direction came the fire engines, called from 
all the outlying districts by the general alarm rung in by the assistants of the dead 
chief. 

CHINESE IN DELIRIUM OF FRIGHT. 

On Portsmouth square the panic was beyond description. This, the old 
plaza, about which the early city was built, was bordered by Chinatown, by 
Italian district, and by the Barbary coast, a lower tenderloin. A spur of the quake 
ran up the hill upon which Chinatown was situated and shook down part of the 
crazy little buildings on the southern edge. It tore down, too, some of the 
Italian tenements. The rush to Portsmouth square went on almost unchecked 
by tke police, who had more business elsewhere. 




GO 



64 EARTHQUAKES 

The Chinese came out of the underground burrows like rats and tumbled 
into the square, beating such gongs and playing such noise instruments as they 
had snatched up. They were met on the other side by the refugees of the 
Italian quarter. The panic became a madness. 

At least two Chinamen were taken to the morgue dead of knife wounds, 
given for no other reason, it seems, than the madness of panic. 

FOUR RACES IN MAD PANIC. 

There were 10,000 Chinese in the quarter, and there were thousands, of 
Italians, Spaniards and Mexicans on the other side. It seemed as though every 
one of these, together with the riffraff of the Barbary coast, made for that one 
block of open land. 

The two uncontrolled streams met in the center of the square and piled up 
on the edges. There they fought all the morning until some regulars restored 
order with their bayonets. 

Then, as the dawn broke and the lower city began to be overhung with- the 
smoke of burning buildings, there came a back eddy. Cabmen, hackmert, 
drivers of express wagons and trucks, hired at enormous prices, began carting 
away from the lower city the valuables of the hotels, which saw their doom in 
the fires which were breaking out everywhere and the spurts of the gas mains. 

Even the banks began to take out their bullion and securities, and, under 
guard of half-dressed clerks, to send them to the hills, whence came today the 
salvation of San Francisco. One old night hawk cab, driven by a cabman 
white with terror, carried more than a million dollars in currency and securities. 

HUMAN RATS BEGIN WORK. 

Men, pulling corpses or broken people from fallen buildings, stopped to 
curse these processions as they passed. Many times a line of wagons and cabs 
would run on to an impassable barrier of debris, where some building had fallen 
into the street, and would pile up until the guards cleared a way through the 
streets. 

And then the vandals formed and went to work. Routed out from the 
dens along the wharves, the rats of the San Francisco water front, the drifters 
who have reached the back eddy of European civilization, crawled out and' 
began to plunder. 

Early in the day a policeman caught one of these men creeping through 
the window of a small bank on Montgomery street and shot him dead. But the 
police were keeping fire lines, beating back overzealous rescuers from the Jallen 
houses and the burning blocks, and for a time these men plundered at will. ' 

TROOPS ORDERED TO KILL THIEVES. 

News of this development was carried early to Mayor Schmitz, and it was 
this as much as anything which determined him when Gen. Funston came over 
on the double quick with the whole garrison of the Presidio to put the city 
under martial law. 



EARTHQUAKES 65 

Orders were issued to the troops to shoot any one caught in the act of 
looting, and the same orders were issued to the First Regiment, National Guard, 
of California when they were mustered and called out later in the day. 

And all this time, and clear up until noon, the earth was shaking with 
little tremors, many of which brought down walls and chimneys. At each of 
these tremors rescuers, and even the firemen, would stop for a moment, 
paralyzed. The 8 o'clock shock, the heaviest after the big one, drove even 
those who had determined to stay by the stricken city to look for a means of 
escape ^v water. 

WILD RUSH FOR FERRIES. 

There are only two ways out of San Francisco, one is by rail to th? south 
and down the Santa Clara valley ; the other is by water to Oakland, the over- 
land terminal. Most of the Californians, trying to get out of the quaking, 
dangerous city, m'dde by instinct for the ferry, since they knew that the shocks 
always travel heavily to the south, down the Santa Clara valley. 

As for the easterners, they had come by ferry and they started to get out 
by ferry. But when the half-dressed people, carrying the ridiculous bundles 
snatched up in time of panic, reached Montgomery street, they found their way 
blocked by ten blocks of fire, 

They piled up on the edge of this district fighting with the police, who held 
them back and turned them again oward the hills. They must stay in the city. 
If it went, they went with it. 

The troops ended their last hope of getting out of town. So great had 
been the disorder that, as afternoon came on and the earth seemed to be quiet- 
ing down, they enforced strict laws against movement. 

TROOPS STOP RUN ON BANKS. 

This stopped a strange feature of the disaster — a run on the banks by 
people who wanted to get out their money and go. All the morning lines ol 
disheveled men had been standing in line before the banks on Montgomery and 
Sansome streets, ignoring the smoke and flying brands and beating at the 
doors. The troops drove these away; and the banks went on with their work 
of getting out the valuables. 

There is an open park opposite the city hall. Here, in default of a build- 
ing, the board of supervisors met and. formed, together with fifty substantial 
citizens whom they had gathered together, a committee of safety. 

The police and the troops, working admirably together, passed the word 
that the dead and injured should be brought to Mechanics' pavilion, since the 
hospitals and morgue had become choked ; and toward that point, in the early 
forenoon, the drays, express wagons, and hacks impressed as temporary 
ambulances, took their course. 

There were perhaps 400 injured people, many of them terribly mangled, 
laid out on the floor before noon. Nearly every physician in the city volun- 
teered ; and they got together enough trained nurses to do the work. 



66 



EARTHQUAKES 



There were fewer corpses ; too busy were the forces of order in stopping 
the conflagration and caring for the living to care for the dead. 

One of the first wagons to arrive, however, brought a whole family — 
father, mother and three children — all dead except the baby, who had a terrible 
cut across its forehead and a broken arm. These had been dragged out from 
the ruins of their home on the water front. 

A large consignment of bodies, mostly of workingmen, came from a small 
hotel on Eddy street, through whose roof there fell the entire upper structure 
of a tall building next door. It made kindling wood of the two upper floors 
of the lodging house, which itself stood. Men from neighboring houses, run- 
ning along the streets, heard the cries and groans from this house and ran in. 
They reached the second floor, and through a hole in the ceiling there tumbled 
a man horribly mangled about the head, who lay where he had fallen and died 
at their feet. 






f33$ 



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III 111 'i III 




SAN FRANCISCO HAI.T, OF JUSTICE- 






The Call Building on Fire After the Earthquake. 



CHAPTER II. 
"SAN FRANCISCO THE BEAUTIFUL." 

Metropolis of the Pacific — Jewel of the Gclden Gate — Built On Hills Like Rome — Kipling's 
View of 'Frisco — Earthquakes Not Far from Uncommon — How Chinese Eesidents 
Viewed Past Disturbances — Mark Twain Tells of Quake He Witnessed. 

"And there were voices and thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earth- 
quake, such as was not since men were Irpon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so 
groat."— Rev., 16: IS. 

San Francisco, metropolis of the Pacific coast, is one of the most pic- 
turesque cities on the American continent. With its background of the 
Golden Gate, with its hills rising- from a water front teeming with oriental 
shipping, with its subtropical vegetation, with its skyscrapers and its linger- 
ing structures of the days of '49, and with its commingled flavor of eastern 
and western civilizations it is a city of remarkable interest. 

The city is built on the hills which crown the peninsula inclosing the 
southern part of the bay of San Francisco. On one side is the Pacific ocean 
and on the other the bay. Viewed from the summit of the tallest buildings, 
the city is seen to be divided naturally into three parts. 

Along the water front rise the masts of ships, bordered by huge ware- 
houses. Farther back from the docks was located the business section of 
the city, and still farther out on the slopes of a dozen hills encircling the 
city were the residence quarters. 

MARKET STREET MAGNIFICENT. 

Market street is the main thoroughfare of the city. It begins at the bay 
and extends southwest three miles. Along this street or close by were 
located the principal buildings. 

It is to San Francisco w r hat State street is to Chicago and Broadway 
to New York. Kearney and Montgomery streets to a lesser degree shared 
the bustle of the city with Market street. The corner of Third, Kearney 
and Geary streets was a busy intersection. 

The center about which the business life of San Francisco revolved 
was Union square, with its statue and flower beds. Here on one side rose 
the St. Francis hotel, the most magnificent hostelry in the city. It was 
built in the modern skyscraper style and was sixteen stories high. The 
Palace hotel, because of its association with the early life of the city, was 
perhaps the best known hotel on the Pacific coast. 

One of the most imposing structures in the town was the city hall, one 
of the largest buildings of its kind in the country. The elevation of the 
dome was 450 feet and the cost of the building was $6,000,000. Other large 



EARTHQUAKES 69 

buildings in the business section were the Hall of Justice on Portsmouth 
square, the Mutual Bank building, the Pacific Mutual Life, the Callaghan 
building, the Call, Chronicle, and Examiner buildings, all laid in ruins. 

REMINDERS OF PIONEER DAYS. 

It was in the business section that the evolution of the town from the 
frontier village of the era of '49 was most picturesquely illustrated. Sur- 
rounding the up to date hotels and tall office buildings were to be seen 
frame and brick structures, the architecture of which was suggestive of the 
mining camp. Every year saw some of these old time buildings demolished 
to make way for metropolitan structures. 

From the business section an up to date trolley car system radiated 
through the residence district. In a few streets, however, particularly those 
mounting steep hills, the cable was retained, as it was said to be more 
effective than electricity on steep grades. 

To the west of the city, overlooking the Golden Gate, and sheltered 
by the hills on the south, lies Golden Gate park, a tract of more than 1,000 
acres. With its luxurious semi-tropical verdure, its deer park, Japanese 
teahouse, and prospect from Strawberry hill this great pleasure ground has 
become one of the famous parks of the world. 

MECCA OF THE GOLD SEEKERS. 

San Francisco, which in 1900 had a population of 355,000, has passed 
through many stages of development since the name meant but a rude 
clump of Spanish dwellings and Indian tepees in 1839. It was consider- 
ably more in 1850— the goal of thousands of gold seekers and adventurers, 
a city of temporary dwellings and "shacks." 

But to have seen the city on the day before the disaster one would not 
have recognized the wild, picturesque village of the early '50s. The sub- 
stantial buildings and the civic pride of the citizens were the result of a 
half century of growth. 

The real history of San Francisco as a city dates from the day in 1850 
when California was admitted to the union as a state. There are still some 
who remember the big celebration on the plaza, around which the city has 
since grown to its present proportions. They still tell of the firing of the 
new federal salute at sunrise, of the huge procession which formed there a 
few hours later and marched about the "city," of the thirty-one guns fired 
at the close of the literary exercises at sunset, and of the dance which lasted 
until the sun warned the revelers of the coming of another day. 

TRIBUTE FROM RUDYARD KIPLING. 

Rudyard Kipling said, after his visit to San Francisco, that it was "a 
mad city made up of insane men and beautiful women," The opinion was 



70 EARTHQUAKES 

that of a man suddenly taken from the slothful life of India and placed in 
the hurry-scurry town where the climate spurred one to renewed activity. 

In 1875 the city prided itself upon the fact that two steamship lines 
left the Golden Gate regularly for foreign parts. Twenty years later an- 
other steamship line was added to the list and the rapid growth of the im- 
portance of the city's foreign business could not be overestimated by its 
officials. But when, a few years ago, more than a dozen transportation 
companies vied with each otlier for the city's marine business, San Fran- 
cisco had ceased to wonder. 

With the opening of important trading posts in Japan, China and other 
oriental points, the city reaped the benefits and business boomed corre- 
spondingly. 

EARTHQUAKES FAR FROM UNCOMMON. 

Although the earthquake that wrought such awful havoc on April 18 
was the worst that ever occurred on the Pacific coast, the city has been 
visited by seismic shocks several times. The last severe shock took place 
in June, 1897, when the city was thrown into a state of panic by a series of 
upheavals. 

Many of the buildings in. San Francisco showed the effects of the earth- 
quake and while no actual loss of life was reported, considerable damage to 
property occurred and many people were injured. 

For several days a more severe shock was anticipated and work was 
suspended in factories and stores and the public schools were dismissed. 
The disturbance took place on Sunday at the hour when churches were 
holding services and many worshipers were injured while trying to escape 
from the rocking buildings. 

CHINATOWN THROWN IN TERROR. 

The panic was at its worst in Chinatown, where the Celestials were 
thrown into a frenzy of fear. For days the streets were filled by China- 
men offering sacrifices to the wicked god who was supposed to be trying 
to destroy the world. 

The Chinese believe that the center of the earth is inhabited by a giant 
dragon, who must be appeased by offerings and prayer. His burning 
breath escaping from the interior of the earth is supposed to cause volcanoes, 
and when he moves about the earth trembles. There is an old Chinese tra- 
dition to the effect that some day the earth will be destroyed by the wicked 
earth dragon, and whenever an earthquake occurs they believe that the 
monster is not satisfied with the offerings made to him and is making prep- 
arations to come forth and sweep mankind from the earth. 

They believe that the only way that this tragedy can be averted is by a 
wholesale burning of incense and "joss" paper. At the time of the last 
earthquake in San Francisco this strange belief caused many of the denizens 
of Chinatown to go insane with fear and many strange scenes took place. 




m 



72 EARTHQUAKES 

At the first shock the Chinamen ran into the streets beating their breasts 
and shouting incantations at the top of the ; .r voices, but they soon settled 
down to the serious work of appeasing the wicked dragon. Washington 
square, on Kearney street, was filled with a horde of jabbering Celestials 
burning their offerings. 

SEEK TO PROPITIATE DEMON. 

Immense bonfires were built in the square and on Dupont street and 
valuables of all descriptions were thrown into the flames. Fine ebony fur- 
niture, imported at great cost from China, beautiful embroidered silk hang- 
ings, and clothing, and bales of spices were fed to the flames with reckless 
disregard of their value. 

In Woo Tung alley, where the headquarters of the famous Tongs, or 
highbinder societies are situated, the demonstration took another form. The 
pavement was torn up and in a few minutes a deep hole was excavated 
in the street. Into this hole valuable goods of all kinds were dumped and 
even sacks of silver coins were emptied in the hope that the great earth 
dragon would be persuaded to stay in his underground home. 

In all the streets throughout the Chinese district thousands of the 
frenzied orientals could be seen kneeling hour after hour chanting their prayers 
at the top of their voices and beating their heads on the pavement. 

THROWN IN FRENZY OF FEAR. 

When the police tried to interfere and prevent the building of fires a 
riot took place, and it was soon seen that any attempts to control the mad- 
dened Chinamen would be foolish, so the officers withdrew. 

The panic in Chinatown continued during the night and part of the 
next day. until persuaded by the fact that the earth had ceased to tremble 
the Celestials put a stop to their orgie of sacrifice. 

SCENE BECOMES BATTLE. 

An amusing scene then took place. The Chinamen who had been eager 
to destroy their property the night before, seemed determined to reclaim 
their valuables from the evil dragon, and the big hole in Woo Tung alley 
became the scene of a pitched battle, as those who had buried their offer- 
ings there fought to regain them. It became necessary to call in a squad 
of police to settle the disputes. 

While these strange scenes were being enacted in Chinatown, another 
panic of a different nature was taking place across the bay in Oakland. 
The shock was more severe in Oakland than in San Francisco, but for- 
tunately the business houses were deserted, and no lives were lost. A num- 
ber of buildings were warped and damaged by the upheaval, and they 
afterward were condemned and torn down. 



EARTHQUAKES 73 

QUAKES FELT OVER BIG TERRITORY. 

The earthquake of 1897 was felt from northern California to southern 
Mexico. The shock was more severe in the south than in San Francisco, 
and Tehuantepec, a city in Mexico of several thousand inhabitants, was 
destroyed. 

The Pacific coast has been so frequently visited by earthquakes that it 
was deemed unwise, until a few years ago, to erect tall buildings in San 
Francisco. It was only with the advent of modern steel construction, which 
was believed to render tall buildings safe from the earth's tremors, that 
skyscrapers made their appearance on the Pacific coast. 

The last earthquake that occurred in San Francisco was about the 
middle of January, 1900. Several distinct shocks were felt early in the 
morning, causing the vibration of buildings all over the city. The chief 
building affected was the St. Nicholas hotel, which was severely shaken. 
The walls collapsed in certain parts of the structure, patrons were thrown 
out of their beds, and furniture was destroyed. 

It has been noticed before that nearly every seismic disturbance on the 
Pacific coast has been preceded by more or less violent disturbances or 
volcanic eruptions in the south seas or near Japan or Australia, and the 
shocks of April 18 would seem to have, as their precursors the recent dis- 
turbances at Formosa. 

A man named Cricksor once prophesied that San Francisco, Oakland, 
Chicago and New York would be destroyed by earthquake on April 14, 1890. 
The approach of this date caused a wild panic in San Francisco, and early 
in April real estate values actually suffered serious deprecia ion as a result, 
and many timid people left the city. The date came, however, and nothing 
happened. 

MARK TWAIN TELLS HIS EXPERIENCE. 

Mark Twain tells of an earthquake he witnessed in San Francisco many 
years ago. He describes the affair in "Roughing It": "It was just after 
noon on a bright October day. I was coming down Third street. The only 
objects in motion anywhere in sight in that thickly built and populous 
quarter were a man in a buggy behind me and a street car wending slowly 
up a cross street. Otherwise all was solitude and a sabbath stillness. As 
I turned a corner around a frame house there was a rattle and jar, and it 
occurred to me that here was an 'item' — no doubt a fight in that house. 
Before I could turn and seek the door there came a really terrific shock; 
the ground seemed to roll under me in waves, interrupted by a violent jog- 
ging up and down, and there was a heavy grinding noise, as of brick houses 
rubbing together. I fell up against the frame house and hurt my elbow. I 
knew what it was now, and, from mere reportorial instinct, nothing else, 
took out my watch and noted the time of day; at that moment a third and 
still severer shock came, and as I reeled about on the pavement trying to 
keep my footing I saw a sight. 



74 EARTHQUAKES 

BIG BUILDING SPRAWLS OUT. 

"The entire front of a tall, four-story brick building in Third street 
sprung outward like a door and fell sprawling across the street, raising a 
dust like a great volume of smoke. And here came the buggy — overboard 
went the man. and, in less time than I can tell it, the vehicle was distributed 
in small fragments along 300 yards of street. One could have fancied that 
somebody had fired a charge of chair-rounds and rags down the thorough- 
fare. 

"The street car had stopped, the horses were rearing and plunging, the 
passengers were pouring out at both ends and one fat man had crashed 
halfway through a glass window on one side of the car, got wedged fast 
and was squirming and screaming like an impaled madman. Every door of 
every house as far as the eye could reach was vomiting a stream of human 
beings, and almost before one could execute a wink and begin another 
there was a massed multitude of people stretching in endless procession down 
every street my position commanded. Never was solemn solitude turned 
into teeming life quicker. 

SOME AMAZING SIGHTS SEEN. 

"The curiosities of the earthquake were simply endless. Gentlemen 
and ladies who were sick, or were taking a siesta, or had dissipated till a 
late hour and were making up lost sleep, thronged into the streets in all 
sorts of queer apparel and some without any at all. One woman, who had 
been washing a naked child, ran clown the street holding it by the ankles, 
as if it had been a dressed turkey. Prominent citizens, who were supposed 
to keep the sabbath strictly, rushed out of saloons in their shirt sleeves, 
with billiard cues in their hands. Dozens of men with necks swathed in 
napkins rushed from barber shops, lathered to the eyes or with one cheek 
clean shaved and the other still bearing a hairy stubble. 

"A crack 100 feet long gaped open six inches wide in the middle of one 
street and then shut together again with such force as to ridge up the meet- 
ing earth like a slender grave. A lady sitting in her rocking and quaking 
parlor saw the Avail part at the ceiling, open and shut twice, like a mouth, 
and then drop the end of a brick on the floor, like a tooth. She was a woman 
easily disgusted with foolishness a*nd she arose and went out of there. 
Suspended pictures were thrown down, but oftener still they were whirled 
completely around with their faces to the wall. Thousands of people were 
made so seasick by the rolling and pitching of floors and streets that they 
were weak and bedridden for hours and some few even for days afterward." 



CHAPTER III. 
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF SURVIVORS. 

Albert H. Gould's Harrowing Recital — Crash Like the Roll of Thunder as Giant Buildings 
Totter to the Ground — Flight Through Darkness — Naked Women and Children Tram- 
pled in the Streets — J. H. Ritter, of Houston, Fights Way Through Fire Line — Two 
Hours of Madness — George F. Williams Makes Way Through Funeral Pyres— Death 
Preferable — Miss Agnes Zink Sees Hundreds Perish 

Watch therefore for ye know neither the clay nor the hour wherein the Son of Man 
cometh.— Matt. 25: 13. 

S. B. Hopkins, conductor for the Judson Tourist Company, with offices in 
the Marquette building, Chicago, was a guest at the Netherlands. He said: 

"I had been in two small earthquakes before, one at Los Angeles and the 
other in Frisco, and knew when I felt the Netherlands hotel building rock 
what had happened. When I awoke I found my bed had moved across the 
floor and that a dresser in the room had 'moved out from the wall. A great 
deal of the plastering had fallen, but there appeared to be no cracks in the 
walls. Raising the curtain, I looked out and in the dim light of the dawn could 
not perceive that any buildings in the vicinity had fallen. 

"I dressed hurriedly and hastened to the ground floor of the hotel. Before 
leaving the sixth story I turned a faucet in a wash basin, but found that there 
was no water. I turned on the electric light as soon as I got out of bed and 
it burned very feebly for a few minutes and then went out. 

"On reaching the sidewalk with my grips I found that every one else was 
leaving not only the Netherlands but every other building in the vicinity, 
headed for the ferry with a view to escaping from the doomed city. I offered 
any price for a hack or an automobile, but could find none that was not already 
engaged until I had walked several blocks when I saw a hack in which were 
three women hurrying to the Oakland ferry. 

"I managed to induce the driver to take one more passenger and, mount- 
ing the box with the grips beneath my feet, I was soon hastening as fast as 
the cab horses could hurry toward the water front and the chance to leave San 
Francisco." 

BIG BREWER TELLS EXPERIENCES. 

Adolphus Busch, president of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company of 
St. Louis, was in the St. Francis hotel when the first shock came and he re- 
mained in the doomed city until Thursday morning, when he was compelled to 
leave by the lack of food and water. Mr. Busch describes the earthquake and 
the events subsequent thereto very graphically. 

"We were all asleep in our rooms when the first shock came," he said. 
"Almost immediately the electric lights went out and when we went to the 
elevator to descend from the tenth floor, on which our rooms were located, 
we found that it had been damaged by the earthquake and could not be oper- 

76 



EARTHQUAKES 77 

ated. I was surprised at the coolness and presence of mind displayed by every 
one in the great emergency. 

"We remained in the hotel until 6 o'clock in the evening, when the ad- 
vancing flames drove r.s out. I secured two carriages and we moved to Nob 
hill, where we stayed until Thursday morning, when we went to the ferry 
and fortunately caught a boat which was just entering the slip. Mrs. Busch 
was with me and there were twelve persons altogether in the party. 

"After I secured the carriages we never left them alone for fear some one 
else would take them when we were gone. We left at least two persons with 
each carriage whenever we wandered away from them for a time. When we 
reached the ferry at the foot of Market street we were permitted to drive right 
on board the boat, much to our relief, as we were by this time very anxious to 
get out of San Francisco. 

MILLIONAIRE GOES WITHOUT FOOD. 

"When we left the ferry at Oakland I discovered that my private car was 
not there and it was not until ten minutes before the time for our train to start 
that it put in an appearance. Much to my sorrow, I found that it contained 
no provisions, and we were compelled to start on our journey sustained by 
what we had been able to get to eat in Oakland. I telegraphed ahead to Sac- 
ramento and on our arrival there we replenished our commissary and we had 
plenty to eat from then on. 

"During our stay on Nob hill we were sixteen hours without anything to 
eat or drink and in this we suffered only as others suffered. While we were 
on the hill we saw the St. Francis destroyed by fire and witnessed the ruina- 
tion of many houses under the order of General Funston in a vain attempt to 
stop the spread of the flames. 

"Less than one-fourth of the city escaped from the combined ravages of 
earthquake and fire. All of the wholesale houses and most of the retail houses 
of the city were heaps of ruins and in the flames perished art galleries filled 
with priceless treasures that money cannot replace, public buildings, school 
houses and great hotels. San Francisco was indeed wiped out of existence. 

"As we drove through the streets on our way from the St. Francis to Nob 
hill we passed streets that were utterly impassable because of the piles of brick 
and stone that filled them from the ruined buildings on either hand and in 
many places one side of the street had fallen in to a depth of two feet, while 
the opposite side had been elevated to a corresponding height by the violent 
movement of the earth. 

"The earthquake did the greatest damage to the brick and stone build- 
ings. The steel structures stood the shock nobly and had it not been for the 
fire that followed immediately on the heels of the earthquake I believe the 
steel buildings could have been repaired at very little expense. For twenty- 
four hours we felt slight earthquake shocks at frequent intervals after the 
first and most serious shock." 



78 EARTHQUAKES 

NAVAL STATION SUFFERS. 

"I was visiting the home of Lieutenant and Mrs. Graham at Mare Island," 
said Mrs. William Winder, the wife of Capt. Winder of the navy, who lives 
in Erie, Pa. "Shortly after 5 o'clock Wednesday morning the house seemed 
to have been seized in the jaws of a giant terrier and shaken like a rat. The 
crockery was smashed and every bit of bric-a-brac shattered. The house 
rocked and swayed so that the pieces of broken things flew about over the 
floor as if they were alive. 

"In an instant every one in the house was up. The maids came running 
down the halls in their night clothes screaming and crying to be saved. Lieu- 
tenant Graham did his best to calm everybody, explaining that the house had 
been built to withstand earthquake shocks. It was almost impossible to stand 
upright on the floors. 

"Everything groaned and creaked ominously. Pieces of plaster and even 
splinters of hard wood flew off the walls and shot across the rooms like shots. 
Everybody was ordered to dress and prepare to leave the house. Then the 
disturbance subsided with a terrific wrench as its concluding manifestation. 

"Half a dozen buildings not far away crashed down. The majority were 
twisted. I do not believe there is a whole teacup or any other sort of crockery 
left on Mare Island. The streets were littered with debris from falling cor- 
nices and parts of walls. If we had had tall buildings like San Francisco the 
loss of life would have been terrific. The shock was as severely felt as across 
the bay. 

"Immediately after the subsidence of the first shock we could see that 
something terrible had happened in San Francisco. Great dark columns rose 
in the air. It could not have been smoke then. It was dust from fallen build- 
ings, I think. 

"CITY ON FIRE— SEND AID." 

"Then the wireless telegraph station nearby began taking a message from 
San Francisco. The first one was : 

" 'Earthquake — town on fire — send marines and tugs.' 

"In an instant the well trained men of the marines were doing each one 
what he had been taught to do in an emergency. There was no hurrying, ap- 
parently, but in an inconceivably short space of time 200 men were off with a 
flotilla of tugs following them. 

"Soon the rumbling and queer groaning that seemed to come from beneath 
our feet gave way to another tremor of the ground that made everybody jig. 
Then came the second actual upheaval. 

"A second message came from across the bay by wireless. It said: 

" 'All wires down — half town destroyed — fires raging everywhere. More 
help.' 

"Over in San Francisco the flames were mounting from scores of places. 
I went over the bay on a tug with officers who were directing the work of 
rescue. As we drew near to San Francisco we saw the beautiful city was 




'he City Hall Rui 



80 EARTHQUAKES 

doomed. Great clouds of dust hovered over everything. These were punctu- 
ated at intervals by great tongues of flame that shot out from the tall build- 
ings. 

"Every few minutes there was a crash of dynamite and some new dust 
cloud rose to mark the spot where the explosion had occurred. 

HIGH WHINING SOUND HEARD. 

"Over and above everything there was a high pitched whining sound in 
the air. A man told me he once heard the same sort of sound preceding a 
cyclone. 

"As soon as possible Lieutenant Graham made me go on board a launch 
and took me over to Oakland in the effort to make a train. I caught it and 
escaped, so I do not really know how badly Alare Island suffered in the dis- 
aster. 

"As we passed through Santa Rosa we could see that the town was in 
ruins. Up to the time that I left the flashes of the wireless continually an- 
nounced the condition in the stricken city across the bay. One message read : 

" 'Hundreds are dead — fire beyond control — martial law.' 

"Another message read: 

" 'Fire department helpless — no water. Business center doomed.' 

"As to the damage in other places it seemed that all along the coast every 
town had been practically annihilated." 

FUGITIVES STAINED WITH BLOOD. 

Mrs. Herman Crech, of Chestnut street, Philadelphia, gave one of the most 
striking accounts of the scene following the disaster. Mrs. Crech was on the 
third floor at the Terminus Hotel when the walls began to collapse and she 
reached the street clad only in her night robe. 

"1 was so frightened I didn't care at all about clothes," said Mrs. Crech. 
"Just outside I bumped into an old gentleman who took off his coat and put it 
on me. He had nothing on beneath the coat but pajamas and they were stained 
with blood. He had a bad cut in the back of his head and the blood had been 
running down under his coat. I tried to make him take the coat back, but he 
would not. 

"Just then some women began screaming and the street rose right up under 
my feet. 

"When I got to the corner hundreds of rats came out of the basement. At 
least they all seemed to come from the same place and all were going towar I the 
water front as fast as they could scurry. I never saw so many rats before in 
my life. 

"A man named Zimmer, who told me he was in business on Market street, 
helped me through the debris and the sputtering electric light wires. The place 
was a regular inferno. Spurts of flame were shooting out of the windows of 



EARTHQUAKES 81 

buildings that did not seem to have been touched at all by the earthquake. Fires 
seemed to spring up everywhere without cause. 

"Window sills on the second story of a building that seemed otherwise intact 
shot straight out from the walls and landed half way across the street. All these 
stones seemed to have been pinched out and propelled forward at the same 
instant. 

STREETS ALIVE WITH WOMEN. 

"In five minutes after the first terrible wrench the streets were alive with 
crying, half-clad women and children. I saw one poor woman trying to carry 
three children and offering a purse full of money to anyone who would take her 
and the babies safe to the ferry. 

"She had $1,000 in the purse, she said. The poor creature was clad only 
in a nightgown and her long black hair almost reached the ground. 

"My feet were bare and cut with broken glass. Mr. Zimmer cut the sleeves 
from his coat, wrapped them about my feet and tied them on with the laces from 
his own shoes. Then we shuffled on. Every street we tried to pass through 
was blocked with debris. Everywhere were people bloody and battered. 

"I saw a woman who had lost her husband and child somewhere in the con- 
fusion sitting on the edge of the curb and laughing. At that instant the middle 
of the road sank four or five feet in one terrible slump. Still the woman laughed. 
I hope she found her people, poor soul. 

"At last we found a way to the waterfront. There were lots of tugs about, 
but everybody with money was trying .to charter them. We were taken off at 
last by some of the sailors from Mare Island." 

TERRIFIC SHOCKS IN BERKELEY. 

J. W. Rumbough gave a vivid description of his escape. For six hours 
young Rumbough toured the city of Berkeley, directly across the bay from 
San Francisco, and assisted the panic-stricken fugitives to land from the 
ferryboats on the Oakland side of the bay. Following is Rumbough's own 
story of the disaster : 

"I was awake in bed in one of the fraternity halls when the shock came. 
Preceding the shock there was a low., rumbling noise, which first sounded like 
distant thunder. The noise rapidly increased in volume until it grew to be a roar. 
The noise had a muffled sound. 

"I have been in several earthquakes and instinctively guessed what would 
follow the ominous roar. The shock came about thirty seconds after the first 
sound. I remained in bed. 

"The house began rocking like a cradle and the timbers and rafters creaked 
and cracked. It did not seem possible that the building could withstand the 
shock. 

"Outside I could hear the. sound of falling buildings and the rattle of glass 
and dishes. I looked out of the window and saw that the trees were swaying as 
if shaken by a great wind. A chimney directly opposite our hall was hurled from 
a tall building clear across the street. 



82 



EARTHQUAKES 



"A second but lighter shock came at 8:30 o'clock. In the meantime the 
wildest of rumors were spread. I went to the ferries and saw boat loads of peo- 
ple coming across the bay. Men, women and children were utterly crazed with 
terror." 




BROADWAY, IN LOS ANGELES, LOOKING NORTH. 
This is the Principal Thoroughfare in the City. 



CHAPTER IV. 
FAMOUS STRUCTURES SWEPT AWAY. 

Famous Landmarks Destroyed — Great Monuments to San Francisco's Push and Enter- 
prise Fall Before Quake and Fire — Mansions of Millionaires Drop Like Houses of 
Cards — Stanford, Huntington, Flood and Croker Homes Among the First to Go — Home 
of the Famous Bohemian Club No More — Grand Business Structures Consumed Like 
Chaff — Government Mint Escapes Seemingly by a Miracle — Homes of Great News- 
papers Fall a Prey to Flames. 

And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were 
shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands loosed. — Acts 
16: 26. 

Wiped out and gone from the face of the earth are nearly all the old land- 
marks of San Francisco. The earthquake and the fire did their work well, and 
what time had failed to do they accomplished in the twinkling of an eye. 

With the famous landmarks passed away nearly all the new monuments 
that stood for the push and the enterprise of the California metropolis. They 
fell and faded before the shaking of the earth and the fiery blasts like houses of 
cards before a tornado. 

One of the first of the old-time landmarks to go by the board after the 
flames began the destruction of the business district was the Palace Hotel, known 
the world over to travelers. 

It was built in the '70s by James Ralston at a cost of $6,000,000, and was 
owned by the Sharon estate. Many of San Francisco's wealthiest families made 
their home at the Palace, and personal losses in art treasures, etc., were great. 

FLAMES SWEEP AWAY FINE MANSIONS. 

The Stanford mansion, the Huntington, the Flood and the two Croker man- 
sions were swept away. These were the handsomest private residences in San 
Francisco, and were built in the early days of the city's greatness by men who 
played important roles in the development of the Pacific coast. 

Down near the business district, at Post street and Grant avenue, stood the 
Bohemian Club, one of the widest-known social organizations in the world. 

Its membership list includes the names of many men who have achieved 
fame in art, literature and the commercial world. Its rooms were decorated with 
the works of artist-members, many of whose names are known wherever paint- 
ings are discussed. Some of these were saved. 

The annual summer "jinks" of the Bohemian Club, amid sylvan scenes at 
Redwood Grove, was the most unique celebration known among local clubs. 

On special exhibition in the "jinks" room of the Bohemian Club were a 
dozen paintings by the old masters, including a Rembrandt, a Diaz, a Murillo and 

84 



EARTHQUAKES 85 

others, probably worth $100,000. These paintings, which were loaned for exhi- 
bition, were lost. 

The district on California street from Powell to Jones streets, known as Nob 
Hill, contained the most palatial homes of San Francisco. The summit of the 
hill is perhaps 500 feet above the sea level, and a magnificent view of San Fran- 
cisco Bay and the country for many miles around can be had from that point. 

FIRE DESTROYS STANFORD HOME. 

At the southwest corner of California and Powell streets, just on the brink 
of the hill, was the residence of the late Leland Stanford. At the death of Mrs'. 
Stanford about a year ago in Honolulu the mansion became the property of Le- 
land Stanford University. It contained many art treasures of great value. 

On the southeast corner of the same block stood the home of the late Mark 
Hopkins, who amassed many millions along with Stanford, C. P. Huntington 
and Charles Crocker in the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad from 
Ogden to Sacramento. The Hopkins home was presented to the University of 
California by his heirs, and was known as the Hopkins Art Institute. 

Across California street from the Stanford and Hopkins homes was the 
Fairmount Hotel, which had been under construction for more than two years. 
It was a handsome white stone structure, seven stories high, occupying an entire 
block. 

The land was owned by the late Senator James Fair, who was associated 
with John W. Mackay, James Flood and James O'Brien, all of whom amassed 
great fortunes in Nevada mines. 

One block west of the Fairmount was the Flood home, a huge brown stone 
mansion, said to have cost more than $1,000,000. 

The Huntington home, which is the least pretentious of the residences of the 
"big four," occupied the block on California street, just west of the Flood house. 

The Crocker residence, with its huge lawns and magnificent stables, was on 
the wes* of the Huntington home. Many other beautiful and costly homes were 
situated on the hill. 

A mile further west, on Pacific Heights, were located many costly homes of 
recent construction. 

GREAT HOSPITAL IS DYNAMITED. 

The Southern Pacific Hospital, at Fourteenth and Mission streets, was 
dynamited, the patients having been removed to places of safety. The Linda 
Vista and the Pleasanton, two large family hotels on Jones street, in the better 
part of the city, were blown up. 

Farther west on Post street stood the home of the Olympic Club, the oldest 
regularly organized athletic association in the United States, and famous for its 
appointments and for the number of athletes it has developed. The building 
was worth $300,000, and its furnishings were of the finest quality. Nothing re- 
mained but a mass of steel and stone. 



86 EARTHQUAKES 

The great new Flood Building, built by James Flood at a cost of $4,000,000, 
and occupied about a year before ; the new Merchants' Exchange Building on 
California street, erected at a cost of $2,500,000; the Crocker Building at Mont- 
gomery and Market streets, a $1,000,000 structure; the Mills Building at Bush 
and Montgomery, costing the same sum; the new Shreve Building, at Post street 
and Grant avenue, costing $2,000,000, and occupied on April 1 by the largest jew- 
elry store on the coast, were some of the new structures destroyed. The 
Shreve Jewelry Company carried a stock of $2,000,000 worth of jewelry. 

FIRST SKYSCRAPER GOES TO THE GROUND. 

In Market street the Phelan Building, one of the earliest attempts at a pre- 
tentious work of architecture in the business district and covering the most val- 
uable piece of real estate in San Francisco, was one of the first to fall. 

The great group of buildings standing on a piece of ground bounded by 
Larkin, McAllister and Grove streets, erected by the city of San Francisco at a 
cost of $7,000,000 and known as the city and county buildings, was soon a mass 
of ruins. 

The beautiful St. Francis Hotel, facing Union Square, erected at a cost of 
$4,500,000 and the Fairmount Hotel at California and Powell streets, costing 
$3,000,000, the most conspicuous location in the city, followed in short order. 

The magnificent group of buildings at Van Ness avenue and Hayes street 
of the St. Ignatius College .and Cathedral, probably worth $2,000,000, and St. 
Dominick's Church on Steiner street near California, and the Emanuel syna- 
gogue, a handsome structure of the oriental type on Sutter street, were wiped 
out. 

GOVERNMENT MINT SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION. 

The branch United States mint, on Fifth street near Market, was not de- 
stroyed, but was damaged to a considerable extent. Its escape was due to the 
fact that it occupies a large square, separated from surrounding buildings by a 
wide paved space. 

Two blocks west of the mint stood the splendid new postoffice building, fin- 
ished about six months before and erected at a cost of $2,000,000 for actual con- 
struction. 

It was one of the most beautiful buildings in the United States, said to have 
been equaled in architectural excellence only by the new Congressional Library at 
Washington. It was destroyed. 

Down in the older business sections were many old landmarks, but they exist 
no longer. 

The Occidental Hotel, in Montgomery street, for years the headquarters for 
army officers that visited San Francisco; the old Lick House, built by the phil- 
anthropist, James Lick; the old Russ House, also on Montgomery street; the Ne- 
vada National Bank Block, the Hayward Building at California and Mont- 
gomery, a modern structure of ten stories ; then to the eastward the splendid ex- 




o 



u 



88 EARTHQUAKES 

ample of the severe Gothic style, the California National Bank; the First Na- 
tional Bank, the First Canadian Bank of Commerce, the London and San Fran- 
cisco, on California street ; the London, Paris and American Bank and the Bank 
of British North America, on Sansom street ; the large German- American Sav- 
ings Bank, also on California, all were destroyed. 

HOTELS AND THEATERS BURNED. 

The California Hotel and Theater in Bush street, near Montgomery; the 
Grand Opera House in Mission street, where the Conried grand opera company 
had just opened for a series of three weeks' opera ; the Orpheum, the Columbia, 
the Alcazar, the Majestic, the Central and Fisher's were some of the playhouses 
to which pleasure-loving San Francisco was wont to flock. All were burned. 

Among the splendid apartment houses destroyed were : 

In Geary street — The St. Augustine, the Alexandria, the Victoria. 

In Sutter — The Pleasanton, the Aberdeen, the Waldeck, the Granada. 

In Pine street — The Colonial, the Loma Vista, the Buena Vista. 

In Ellis — The Dufferin, the Hamilton, the Ellis, the Royal, the Hart, the 
Ascot and St. Catherine. 

In OTarrell street — The Eugene, the Knox, the St. George, the Ramon, the 
Gotham. 

In Taylor street — The Abbey. 

In Eddy street — The Abbottsford. 

In Turk street — The Netherlands. 

In Polk street — The Savoy. 

In Bush street — The Plymouth. 

FAMOUS PLACES ARE NO MORE. 

San Francisco was famous for the excellence of its restaurants. Many of 
these were known wherever the traveler discussed good living. 

Among them were the "Pup" and Marschand's, in Stockton street; the 
Poodle Dog, one of the most ornate, distinctive restaurant buildings in the 
United States; Zinkand's and the Fiesta, on Market street; the famous Palace 
grill in the Palace Hotel, and scores of Bohemian resorts in the old part of San 
Francisco. They are no more. 

At the junction of Kearney, Market and Geary streets stood the three great 
newspaper buildings of San Francisco — the Call, the most conspicuous structure 
in all the city, seventeen stories high ; across the street, the Hearst Building, the 
home of the Examiner, and to the north of this, on the opposite side of Market 
street, the Chronicle, a modern ten-story newspaper and office building, with the 
sixteen-story annex under course of construction. All were destroyed. Two 
blocks north on Kearney street were the Bulletin and the Post buildings. They 
also are gone. 

Among the mammoth department stores destroyed were the Emporium, 



EARTHQUAKES 



89 



Hales & Fragers', on Market ; on Kearney street, the White House, O'Connor & 
MofTatt's; Newman & Levinson's, Roos Brothers', Raphael's, the Hub and many 
lesser establishments; on Geary street, the Davis, the City of Paris, Samuel's; on 
Post street, Vel Strauss' ; on Sansom street, Wallace's, Nathan, Dohrman & 
Co.'s and Bullock & Jones'. 



Hopl^nd 






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750 de^d 



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Hap® l/o/,; $30000 
* ^Oakland . 



SAN FRANC1SC 

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2)00 00 I 

Korae i e s)*V hOSSS ^ r^V,™! fefefiCrcvioe 

^350,O(X),OoqJ 35 gSB?od ®^l, llf 
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io Killed 



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$2., 000,000 



THE CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE AREA. 



CHAPTER V. 
MANIACS KILLED BY HUNDREDS. 

Maniacs Killed by Hundreds — Scenes of Horror at Agnew's State Insane Asylum, Santa 
Clara — Shriek in Terror in Cells — Walls Fall Under Second Shock — Aroused to Battle — 
Survivors Tied to Trees. 

And I behold when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake; 
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. — Rev. 6: 12. 

When one of the earthquake shocks wrecked the Agnew's State Insane 
Asylum, near Santa Clara, scenes of horror were enacted that froze the blood of 
the sane witnesses and turned the hair of many white in an hour. 

Of the thousand demented beings confined in the hospital fully two-thirds 
had been uneasy and restless all night, seeming to feel that something unusual 
was transpiring deep in the earth beneath them. 

Long before the tremors were felt several of the least violent patients called 
the nurses to them, and in hushed voices explained that the "demons of the 
underworld" were working hard to bring about a catastrophe. 

In vain the nurses and other attendants strove to quiet the demented beings, 
who cried aloud that disaster and ruin was coming, simple and sure. 

Just at daybreak came a long, sullen rumble, which shook the stone walls of 
the great asylum. Then came a second tremor. 

MANIACS SHRIEK IN TERROR. 

High above the sudden commands and startled cries of the guards arose the 
shrieks of the maniacs in their cells. Wild cries and demoniac, horrible laughter 
rang through the building. The unfortunates whose minds were only half un- 
settled before were turned to raving, shouting, cursing demons in a second, and 
with a noise like thunder they rattled the bars of their cells and pounded on the 
doors until the clang was heard a mile away. 

For half a minute the giant building shook, trembled and groaned; then, 
with a sudden wrench and shudder, the roof caved in, the walls spread apart, 
torn asunder as if by invisible hands, and with a crash that echoed far and 
wide, the building fell a heap of ruins. 

From all sections of the debris arose a bedlam of cries, as the crazed, 
maimed and dying victims cursed and shrieked in their agony and terror. 
Loud and long sounded the horrifying laughter of the uninjured prisoners, 
mingling in a sickening way with the agonizing calls of those who still re- 
tained vestige of God-given sense. 

Many of the house doctors and the nurses had been killed when the crash 
came. For an instant all was confusion, for there was no one to take charge and 
bring order from chaos. 



^5 









92 EARTHQUAKES 

SECOND SHOCK DISRUPTS WALLS. 

Suddenly a second shock disrupted the walls that still stood, and with a 
roar that drowned all other sounds thousands of pounds of stone and iron 
went crashing, thundering down on the cells which held the dead and dying. 

Then it was that the attendants who had escaped with their lives regained 
their startled senses and began the work of restoring order. 

Instantly a general alarm was sounded, and hundreds of persons from the 
near-by town rushed to the hospital. All of the several buildings attached to 
the hospital proper lay in ruins. 

Rescue parties, each under a captain, were formed, and the work of res- 
cuing the living and caring for the dead was begun. Owing to the stone from 
the walls having fallen on and alongside the cells in which the most violent pa- 
tients were confined, crushing and mangling the iron, it was necessary to use 
sledges in breaking open the doors. 

From the ruins were dragged the dead, and the bodies were tenderly laid on 
the grass some distance away, until 55 mangled corpses were visible. Each body 
was shockingly torn and mutilated, and in every case, almost, the head had been 
so badly bruised that recognition was impossible. 

In the meantime other rescue parties were bringing the survivors from the 
ruins. With wild shrieks and loud lamentations the unfortunates tore them- 
selves loose from their captors and sought to escape. 

"I'm going to heaven in a chariot of fire !" shrieked one demented man, as he 
seized his captor and bore him to the ground, at the same time choking him until 
death was near. 

"I'm going to heaven," he shouted. "Don't you hear the rumbling of the 
chariot wheels !" ' 

Finally the demented man was subdued by other members of the rescue 
party, and bound hand and foot. 

MANIACS AROUSED TO BATTLE. 

The battle between the maniac and his captors had aroused the other res- 
cued patients to frenzy, and a second later they made a dash for liberty, scream- 
ing and calling out as they ran. 

They were pursued and captured. Then arose the question of what to do 
with them. There was no building near in which they could be confined, and as 
they were violent it was necessary to restrain them in some way. 

"Tie them to trees," suggested one of the doctors. 

Ropes were procured and in less time than it takes to tell it fully one hun- 
dred raving maniacs were again prisoners, securely bound, hand and foot, and 
fastened to the small trees which fill the hospital grounds. 

Later a temporary building was erected, in which all of the patients were 
cared for. The dead were buried in the cemetery on the grounds, and later 
search was made in the ruins and nearly 200 more bodies recovered. 



EARTHQUAKES 



93 



It was midday before order was restored at the asylum. By that time a 
full force of nurses and attendants had been secured. 

Two hundred and fifty-three bodies were taken out of the ruins. Official 
estimates placed the number of injured insane patients at 207, and of these 
thirty later died. 

Brother De Martini, in charge of the college infirmary, did good work in 
giving first aid to the injured, as did Dr. Gerlache of San Jose, the county physi- 
cian, who later collapsed. 

Little damage was done to the building at Santa Clara College and not one 
of the students or priests was injured. 




LOOKING UP MARKET STREET TOWARD FERRY. 
In the Foreground is the California Monument, Commemorating the Admission of California to Statehood. 



CHAPTER VI. 
STANFORD UNIVERSITY DESTROYED. 

Stanford University Laid Low — Monument of California Pioneers' Generosity — Memorial 
to Son — A Wonderland of Architectural Beauty — Long Struggle Over Millionaire's 
Estate — Faculty Faithful Through Years of Legal Strife— Noted Educator at Its Head 
— Near Site of Famous Palo Alto Breeding Farm — Magnificent Establishment Endowed 
in Perpetuity — Upheaval Wrecks All Save One Building. 

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be 
earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles; these are the begin- 
nings of sorrows. — Mark 13: 8. 

The pride of California scholars and educators, as well as of the masses, 
Leland Stanford University, at Palo Alto, was wiped from earth in the twinkling 
of an eye. Of the fifteen buildings erected by the greatest endowment ever 
received by a school, but one was left standing when the earth tremors of a few 
brief moments had passed away. 

With its destruction also passed out human lives, Junius Brutus Hanna, of 
Bradford, Pa., a student, and Otto Gurts, fireman, paying the toll. The mone- 
tary loss was $2,225,000. 

The university was the monument of Leland Stanford, Jr., erected by the 
millionaire senator and pioneer of California. Young Stanford was the only child 
and idolized by his father, and his death was the one great grief of his parents. 
At the time of the death of young Stanford the parents were in Europe, and 
their return was awaited in California with great interest because of the belief 
that it meant the endowment of some great institution with their vast wealth. 
F-n^owment of the school is said to have been the young man's suggestion. 

CORNER STONE LAID IN 1884. 

This took place in 1884, and two years later the first corner stone of the 
institution at Palo Alto, Cal., was laid. Prior to that the State Legislature of 
California had authorized the establishment of the university along lines that 
were afterward almost literally followed out. 

Such was the beginning of the institution which today has an endowment 
of almost $30,000,000. From the fact that the almost limitless wealth of Leland 
Stanford was behind the institution, it seemed that there could be nothing but 
instantaneous success ahead. Fortunately for the institution, however, the 
twenty-four trustees who had been intrusted with the management of the enter- 
prise were calm and collected in their acts. 

Instead of rushing in and spending a large part of the endowment on the 
immediate equipment, both in the buildings and in the faculty, they builded 




CO 






O 



O 




96 EARTHQUAKES 

slowly and only where it was necessary. And well it is they did this, for in the 
suits which the United States government filed against the Stanford estate in 
recovery of $15,000,000 of old, unexpired debts of the Southern Pacific railroad 
system, the school was in a fair way to fail. This came in the footsteps of the 
death of the founder in 1893 and the hard times which affected every community 
of the United States in the same year. 

WEATHERED DANGEROUS STORM. 

During the pendency of the suit the government had allowed Mrs. Leland 
Stanford an annuity from the estate of $150,000, which was the amount spent 
by her while her husband was governor of the state. Instead of using this 
money for herself, Mrs. Stanford turned it over to the university so that ex- 
penses could be met. The salaries alone at that time were $185,000 annually, 
and this left a deficit which had to be made up in other ways. 

A decision of the United States Supreme Court of March 2, 1896, set all of 
this worry of failure aside by declaring against the collection of the money from 
the estate. It is recorded that the receipt of the telegram announcing the de- 
cision of the court was the most joyous and notable event in the history of the 
institution. 

In all of the trouble David Starr Jordan, who had been selected as the 
first president of the university, from the time the doors were thrown open in 
1 89 1, stood by the institution which he had set out to establish on a firm basis. 
With him stood the corps of assistants. Notwithstanding the many offers, and 
many of them flattering ones, at largely advanced salaries, it is claimed that not 
a desertion was recorded in the years of hardships. 

YEARS OF PROSPERITY. 

Faithfulness of this kind was followed by a period of prosperity which 
within the next few years placed the institution on the pedestal planned for it by 
its founder. The original plans could now be carried out, as the property to the 
credit of the institution increased in value and was freed from any clouded title, 
such as was cast upon it by the suit of the government. 

To lessen the embarrassment to which the university had been subjected 
through the threatened financial straits Thomas Welton Stanford, of Australia, 
announced that with his portion of the bequest of the Stanford estate he would 
erect a library building. A number of similar bequests came at this time from 
the Stanford family, increasing the amount of the endowment left it by the 
founder and given it by his widow. 

NO LAND COULD BE SOLD. 

In doing all of this construction work the board of trustees were authorized 
to use the revenue from the 85,000 acres of land conveyed to the institution, 
but none of the land could be sold. All this was stipulated in the grant made by 
Mr. Stanford when he first conceived the general outline for the university. 



EARTHQUAKES 97 

While the trustees had the management of the financial part of the institu- 
tion, the president was authorized to carry on the management of the teaching 
force and to lay out the curriculum and the mode of teaching. It was stated 
that the object of the school was "to qualify students for personal success and 
direct usefulness in life." In its teachings, outlined in its relation to belief in 
government, it was settled that the university should be "based on the inalien- 
able rights of man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 

RELIGIOUS BUT NOT SECTARIAN. 

It was also set out that the school should teach the right and advantages 
of association and co-operation, in addition to "the immortality of the soul, the 
existence of an all wise and beneficent Creator, and that obedience to His laws 
is the highest duty of man." But above all of this Senator Stanford insisted 
that while the school must have a religious life, none of the teachings were 
to be sectarian. The school was likewise established as a coeducational in- 
stitution. 

The buildings of the university were located in an 8,000-acre tract of land 
about thirty miles from San Francisco. Between the university grounds and 
Mayfield is situated the Stanford home of Palo Alto, from which the university 
derives its name. 

HOME OF FAMOUS HORSES. 

It was at this place that the famous horses bred by Leland Stanford were 
raised. The entire sweep of land is shaded with rare plants, selected from over 
the entire world, including rare specimens from China, Australia, England, and 
from practically every clime. Ten acres near this place are set aside for the 
mausoleum of the Stanford family and a burying ground for members of the 
university, who shall be buried there only at the direction of the board of trus- 
tees. 

Just at the point where the plain rises up toward the foothills the uni- 
versity buildings loomed into shape. Romanesque in style, they followed the 
style of the old Spanish missions, of which much of the construction of Cali- 
fornia consists. 

Constructed of a buff sandstone, the buildings were elaborate with arches 
and covered passageways. Probably the most beautiful part was the inner quad- 
rangle, with its longest side running in two 600-foot stretches of arcades. All 
this was capped at the side entrances with fairy towers in the mission style, with 
the roofs tiled in red. With the passage of the few years since this part of 
the university has been constructed, the color of the stone had slightly turned 
to a yellow, giving an additional glow to the buildings. 

SCHOOL OF THE POOR. 

Inside of the quadrangle are two and one-half acres bedded in palms, bam- 
boos, and other tropical plants, presenting a decorative and pleasing effect 
which is not soon forgotten. It is around this inner quadrangle that the large 



98 



EARTHQUAKES 



imposing buildings composing the school were located. Ayear or two ago not 
less than fifteen of the buildings had been completed and several more were in 
the course of construction. In erecting the buildings the general scheme as 
originally planned was followed, and it is estimated that the actual cost of the 
buildings alone, when completed, would not have been under $3,000,000. 

All of the buildings were selected from plans submitted by the world's most 
prominent architects, following the outline established for the basis. It is be- 
cause of this that the buildings composing the institution are referred to as the 
finest for educational purposes in the world. 

Following the ideas of the founder, the university grants no honorary de- 
gree, and there are no comparative ranking scholarships. In fact, it has only 
been within the past few years that the cap and gown idea at commencement 
was inaugurated. The school was established primarily, it is claimed, for the 
poor of both sexes. 

It is said that the percentage of students depending on what they can make 
during the scholastic year to carry them through is not less than one-third of the 
matriculated students. 




GENERAL FUNSTON. 
The Army Officer Who Took Command at San Francisco When Chaos Reigned. 




Lore, 



CHAPTER VII. 
HORRORS OUTSIDE OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

San Jose Wrecked by Fateful Visitation — Santa Clara Falls Before Blow — Agnew's 
Insane Asylum Crushes Unfortunate Inmates — Salinas Ruined — Leland Stanford Uni- 
versity at Palo Alto Annihilated — Berkeley, Oakland and Brawley Suffer in Less 
Degree — Railroads and Drives Obliterated — Entire Garden Section Laid Waste and 
Transformed Into a Desert. 

Now when the centurion, and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earth- 
quake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly saying, Truly this was tne 
Son of God.— Mat, 27: 54. 

While San Francisco bore the brunt of the earthquake shock, the tremor 
extended for many miles south down the peninsula, leaving ruin and death 
in its wake. 

Nearly every city and village within 200 miles of 'Frisco felt the shock, 
and nearly every one was left in ruins. The main sufferer, outside of the 
Golden Gate City, was Santa Rosa, where many of the largest buildings col- 
lapsed and 500 persons were killed. 

SOME OF THE SUFFERERS. 

Among the best known cities and towns that suffered were the follow- 
ing: 

AGNEW — Insane asylum wrecked and burned ; 288 inmates perished. 
ALAMEDA — Property loss of $200,000; many buildings wrecked. 
BERKELEY— Five lives lost. 
BRAWLEY — Practically wiped out, all brick structures being destroyed; 

no fatalities. 
CLOVERDALE— Many fatalities and wrecks. 
GILROY — Large property loss. 
GEYSERVILLE— Many killed; homes destroyed. 
HEALDSBURG— Heavy life and property loss. 
HOPLAND— Heavy loss. 
HOLLISTER — Large property loss. 

LOS ANGELES — Several buildings shaken but no material damage done. 
LOS BANOS — Many brick buildings wrecked; loss, $75,000; no fatalities. 
LAMA PRIETA — Minehouse overthrown; ten men buried. 
MARTINEZ— Bank building totally wrecked. 
MONTEREY— Chimney fell through roof of Del Monte Hotel, killing a 

bride and groom and hotel employe ; eight lives lost. 
NAPA — Many buildings shattered ; property loss $300,000. 
PALO ALTO — Leland Stanford, Jr., University is practically destroyed ; 

several lives lost. 



EARTHQUAKES 101 

REDWOOD — Courthouse and other buildings collapsed. 

SACRAMENTO — Buildings rocked like cradles; postoffice wrecked; other 
buildings damaged. 

SALINAS — Spreckels sugar factory destroyed ; fire loss, $1,500,000; high 
school building, Elks' Hall, Masonic Temple, armory, City Hall, K. of 
P. building, Odd Fellows' building, gone. 

SANTA ROSA, S. — Rose and Grand Hotels collapsed and buried all occu- 
pants ; thirty-eight bodies taken from ruins ; reports place total deaths 
as high as 500. 

SAN JOSE — Many buildings wrecked ; sixty-five killed ; Agnew's In- 
sane Asylum wrecked and subsequently burned ; 275 inmates killed, 
others roaming around the country. 

SANTA CRUZ — Twelve buildings destroyed ; conflicting reports as to loss 
of life ; Court House and twelve buildings destroyed ; damage by tidal 
wave. 

SUISUN — Miles of railway track sunk ; loaded passenger train nearly en- 
gulfed. 

UKIAH — Town in ruins. 

VALLEJO — Great damage to property. ; no lives lost. 

WATSONVILLE — Moreland Academy destroyed by fire; several build- 
ings collapsed. 

CITY A TOTAL WRECK. 

Santa Rosa, one of the prettiest towns in the State, was a total wreck. 
Ten thousand men, women and children were huddled together in a section 
of the city not reached by the flames. 

Their homes had been destroyed and nothing remained but a forest 
of charred timbers and shattered walls. 

Santa Barbara was severely damaged. Every brick structure in the 
town was demolished. In addition dozens of adobe houses were razed, and 
the ruins, taking fire, were burned. 

Strange manifestations of Nature were reported from the interior, 
where the ground was opened in many places like a ploughed field. Great 
rents in the earth were formed and for many miles north from Los Angeles 
miniature geysers were reported from which volcanic-like streams of hot mud 
were spouting. This mud is stretched along the roadside like lava to a depth 
of several feet in some places. 

CAUSES GENERAL SORROW. 

The destruction of Santa Rosa caused general sorrow among the resi- 
dents of the interior of the State. It was one of the show towns of California, 
and not only one of the most prosperous cities in the fine county of Sonoma 
but one of the most picturesque in the State. 

It was a total wreck. While ten thousand homeless persons roamed its 
wreck-strewn streets, the dead were lying in heaps. 



102 EARTHQUAKES 

Following' the last violent quake of the earth, the whole business por- 
tion of Santa Rosa tumbled into the streets. The main street was piled sev- 
eral feet deep with the ruins. 

All of the county buildings — the four-story courthouse, with its hand- 
some dome, the churches, school houses and stores — were heaped together in 
a mass of wreckage, which immediately caught fire. 

Until the fire started there were hopes of saving the residential quarter. 
But the flames spread with incredible rapidity, the water mains were found 
to have been' broken by the force of the shock, and the terrified inhabitants 
were compelled to stand by and see the entire city go up in smoke. 

From the fields and hill the people, unable to save even their household 
goods, watched the funeral pyre of their city and slowly what had been 
termed the most beautiful city in the West, was resolved into a heap of 
ashes. 

Santa Rosa — "The City of Roses" — was the home of ''Wizard" Bur- 
bank, the famous horticulturist. 

There was not a structure left in town that escaped the fury of either the 
earthquake or the ensuing flames. Many of the dead never were recognized. 
They were burned in the ruins of the buildings. 

Napa, a short distance from Santa Rosa, suffered almost as badly as did 
Healdsburg, Geiserville, Cloverdalej Hopland and Ukiah. 

SIXTY-FIVE DIE AT SAN JOSE. 

San Jose was another city that was almost completely obliterated. The 
damage there amounted to more than $5,000,000, and more than sixty-five 
lives were lost. In the wreck of the Vendome Hotel alone fifteen persons 
were killed. 

Fifty others were killed in the wreckage in other places about the city. 

The old Santa Clara Mission, one of the oldest landmarks in California, 
located midway between San Jose and Santa Clara, was demolished. 

One of the curious effects of the earthquake was shown in Loma Arieta, 
eighteen miles from Santa Cruz, where a house slipped down the side of a 
mountain, burying ten men in the ruins. 

Santa Cruz itself suffered grievously. The death list there was large. 
At Salinas, down the coast near Monterey, which also suffered heavily, the 
town was practically destroyed, and the damage to property was more than 
$1,000,000, 'with ten dead. 

The country between Monterey, Castorville and Pajaro showed unmis- 
takable signs of the terrific wrenching given to the section by the tremendous up- 
heaval of the earth. 

Great sinks, extending along the railroad track as far as the eye could 



104 EARTHQUAKES 

reach and ranging from four to six feet in depth, were left in the surface of 
the earth. For distances of from one-quarter to three-quarters of a mile the 
roadbed dropped from four to six feet. 

MUD GEYSERS SPOUT SLIME. 

It was between Castorville and Monterey, along the railroad tracks and 
in the fields, that the mud geysers were in action. They spouted a hot, bluish 
shale-colored mud to a height of ten to twelve feet. The geysers were from 
four to ten feet apart, and in other sections they were fifty feet or more apart. 
The whole face of the country was covered with this mud in some places. 

Stories of the most thrilling nature were told concerning the stricken sec- 
tions. Near Castorville. while the seismic disturbance was at its height, 
Foreman H. J. Hall grabbed his two children and left the section house. As 
they passed through the door they saw the earth open a crevice, which Hall 
described as fully six feet wide, and then closed. 

Panic reigned in the Del Monte Hotel, in Monterey, immediately follow- 
ing the first shock. The roof and a portion of the upper floor were wrecked 
and fell in upon the head of the sleeping guests. Two persons lost their 
lives, a bride and groom from Arizona, on their honeymoon. 

Two men were killed in the Stanford University, one of them a fireman, 
the other a student. Six students from different parts of the country were 
seriously injured. 

Robert Hanna, of Bradford, Pa., student, was killed. 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ESCAPES. 

The University of California, in Berkeley, however, escaped serious 
damage. Perhaps because of its elevated position across the bay from San 
Francisco, the great university was saved from the destruction which befell 
Stanford. 

The Town Hall in Be keley collapsed, and the Deaf and Dumb Asylum 
was ruined. 

The Berkeley High School also suffered considerable damage. 

Sacramento did not suffer material damage, though the city was badly 
shaken. Great damage was done in Redwood City, where the Carnegie Li- 
brary, among other buildings, was completely destroyed. 

The little town of Gilroy was ruined. Practically every building of im- 
portance in the city was either completely or seriously damaged. At Alameda 
about $10,000 damage was done. 

Great difficulty was experienced in running trains. Rail communication 
on the north was cut off above Santa Rosa, which is sixty miles from San 
Francisco. On the south trains could not run above Fresno. On the west 
the wires of the railroads were gone as far east as the Utah line. 



EARTHQUAKES 



105 



Fresno escaped any damage, although the shock was the heaviest ever 
felt there. At Los Banos, on the border line of the county, several brick 
buildings were wrecked. The loss was $75,000. 

The Southern oil fields suffered severe damage, the derricks, castings 
and other paraphernalia at the wells in many cases having been totally de- 
stroyed. It was noted also that the effect of the earthquake in many places 
was to change the flow of the oil, so that many new borings had to be made. 




GOLDEN GATE PARK. 
Where 200,000 Homeless People Were Camping, 



CHAPTER VIII. 
EXCITING ESCAPES. 

Hurled from Bed by Shock — Hotel Rocked Like Cradle — Removing Dead Bodies — Beyond 
Power to Describe — City Doomed from First — Helen Dare's Weird and Horrifying 
Experiences — Soldiers Judges and Jury — Earth Seemed to Fall — Hospital Full of 
Dying. 

Ami great earthquakes shall be in clivers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fear- 
ful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. — Luke 21: 11. 

Scenes of horror that can only be imagined by those persons who have 
passed through a similar terror were witnessed on all sides. Survivors of 
the earthquake and the fire find that words fall them in attempting to fully 
describe the sights that greeted them at every turn. 

"I was asleep in a room on the seventh floor of the Palace hotel, when 
the city was shaken by the first quake," said Albert H. Gould, of Chicago, 
president of the Chicago Car Heating Company. 

"I was thrown out of my bed and half way across the room. Imme- 
diately realizing that it was an earthquake shock, and fearing the building 
was about to collapse, I ran down the six flights of stairs and into the main 
corridor. I was the first guest to appear. The clerks and hotel employes 
were running about as if they were mad. 

GUESTS RUSH INTO CORRIDORS. 

"Within two minutes after I had appeared other guests began to rush 
into the corridor. Few of them wore other than their night clothing. 

"Men, women and children with blanched faces stood about trembling 
with fear. Children and women cried, the men were hardly less affected. 

"I returned to my room and got my clothing, then walked to the 
offices of the Western Union in my pajamas and bare feet to telegraph to my 
wife in Los Angeles. I found the telegraphers there, but all the wires were 
down. I sat down on the sidewalk, picked the broken glass out of my 
feet and put on my clothes. 

"All this, I suppose, took little more than twenty minutes. Within 
that time, below the Palace hotel, the buildings for more than three blocks 
were a mass of flames, which quickly communicated to other buildings. 

"The scene was a terrible one. Billows of fire seemed to roll from the 
business blocks soon half consumed to other blocks in the vicinity, only 
to climb and leap again in great consuming waves. 

LIKE A GREAT LEANING TOWER. 

"The Call building, at the corner of Third and Market streets, I saw 

106 



Mi I 






'^ : <x-^A-:~ 



,,„■• : 



108 EARTHQUAKES 

as I passed, was more than a foot out of plumb and hanging over the street 
like the leaning tower of Pisa. 

"I remained in San Francisco until 8 o'clock and then took a ferry for 
Oakland, but returned to the burning city an hour and a half later. At that 
time the city seemed doomed. I remained only a few minutes, then made 
my way back to the ferry station. 

"I hope I may never be called upon to pass through such an experience 
again. Thousands of persons, seemingly devoid of reason, were crowded 
around the ferry station. At the iron gates they clawed with their hands 
as so many maniacs. They sought to break the bars, and, failing in that, 
turned upon each other. 

"Fighting my way to the gate like the others, the thought came into 
my mind of what rats in a trap were. Had I not been a strong man I 
certainly should have been killed. 

"When the ferry drew up to the slip and the gates were thrown open 
the rush to safety was tremendous. The people flowed through the passage- 
way like a mountain torrent that, meeting rocks in its path, dashes over 
them. Those who fell saved themselves as best they could. 

"I left Oakland at about 5 o'clock in the evening. At that time San 
Francisco was hidden in a pall of smoke. The sun shone brightly upon it 
without penetrating it. Flames at times cleft the darkness. This cloud 
seemed five miles in height, and at its top changed into a milk-white." 

ROCKED LIKE A CRADLE. 

A thrilling experience was that of J. R. Ritter, of Houston, Tex., who 
was in the Golden West hotel when the first shock came. Mr. Ritter said: 

''When I awoke the hotel was rocking like a cradle. While I was 
dressing the rear wall of the hotel fell into the dining room. 

"I was dressed by the time the second shock came and was going to 
rush out of the building, but the appeals of the women on the same floor 
stopped me. 

"With the aid of some of the other men guests on the fourth floor 
we managed to get the women out. It was no slight task, as most of the 
women were hysterical. 

"The first sight outside was that of half naked persons in the streets, 
running about crying, screeching, wild with fear, while buildings were 
toppling down around them and choking up the streets.. Many were 
wrapped only in bed clothes. 

"It took me two hours to get. around the fire and across the bay." 

REMOVING THE DEAD BODIES. 

One of those who witnessed the great catastrophe was George F. Wil- 
liams, a Pullman car conductor. He said : 

"I left the city a few hours after the work of destruction was begun by 
the elements. The bodies of the dead were being carried through the streets 
in every manner of conveyance. 



EARTHQUAKES 109 

"In many places the streets were impassable. On lower Market street 
I saw a man with a team of horses and a truck on which four bodies were 
piled haphazard." 

R. A. Cole, a horseman, well known over the country, was at the Palace 
hotel, in the midst of the scenes of horror. 

"I never saw anything like it," said Cole, "and I have seen things, too. 
I was in the .St. Louis cyclone and the Baltimore fire. They were nothing 
to this. I tried to rush down and jump in the bay and shut out all the awful 
sights." 

Mrs. Agnes Zink, Hotel Broadway, was stopping at 35 Fifth street, San 
Francisco. She says : "The rear of that house collapsed and the landlady 
and about thirty of her roomers were killed. I escaped simply because 
I had a front room. I saw another lodging house near ours collapse — I 
think it must have been 38 Fifth street — and I know all the inmates were 
killed. In ten minutes the entire block to Mission street was in flames." 

BEYOND POWER TO DESCRIBE. 

"No mortal can describe the scenes witnessed in and around San Fran- 
cisco, following the earthquake," said H. L. Powell, of Los Angeles, who 
went to the stricken city soon after the first alarm was sounded. 

"I was in Berkeley when the shock occurred, but went to San Fran- 
cisco on the first ferry, arriving there at 6:30 o'clock. At that hour Market 
street was crowded with panic stricken people. 

"Women shrieked with fright and fainted on the sidewalks. Men 
scantily clothed rushed from the hotels, and little children clung frantically 
to any older person they could find. 

"The front of the building on Mission street fell on thirty cows and 
killed every one of them. Market street was covered with debris from one 
side to the other." 

CITY DOOMED FROM THE FIRST. 

"Reports cannot be exaggerated. San Francisco was doomed from the time 
the first shock came and the fire broke out," said G. D. Werden, of 3212 Del- 
monte street, who was in Oakland at the time of the shock. "Oakland was 
badly damaged. Hundreds were killed and thousands made homeless in San 
Francisco." 

"Dead and dying lay piled up like cord wood in the streets, and through 
this hell I walked five miles to the ferry," said C. L. King, of San Francisco, 
after his arrival in Oakland, where he fled with other refugees. 

"Manv of the dying were crazed by the sight and lack of water. Nothing 
could be done for them. 

"On lower Market street I saw a man with a team of horses and a truck, 
on which four bodies were piled haphazard. As I stood there a building tumb^d 
into the street, which was already blocked in front. 



HO EARTHQUAKES 

"The flames came on apace, and the man, unable to save his horses or his 
freight of human bodies, sought safety in flight. As I watched the fire licked 
up the dead and the living and swept onward in search of more sustenance. 

DESTRUCTION OF PALACE HOTEL. 

"The detonations of exploding dynamite were terrible. At I o'clock the 
destruction of the Palace Hotel began. 

"A regiment of soldiers formed a square around the tottering building, 
charges of dynamite were placed in the corridors, and then a moment before the 
time for firing they drove the people headlong before them for some distance in 
order to protect them from accident. 

"When I left at 2 o'clock the street was either on fire or in ashes, and in 
order to gain the ferry station I was forced to make a wide detour around by 
Telegraph Hill. 

"One of the peculiar things about the disaster is that many of the buildings 
began first to burn from their upper stories." 

THRILLING STORY OF RESCUE. 

C. A. Duffy, of Owensboro, Ky., was the only man out of several score to 
escape from the floor in which he was quartered in the St. Rose Hotel at Santa 
Rosa. He told a thrilling story of his rescue and the condition of affairs in 
general in Santa Rosa. 

Mr. Duffy said that when the shock came he rushed for the stairway, but 
the building was swaying and shaking so that he could make no headway, and 
he turned back. 

He threw himself in front of the dresser in his room, trusting to that object 
to protect him from the falling timbers. This move saved his life. The dresser 
held up the beams which tumbled over him, and these in turn protected him 
somewhat from the falling mass of debris. 

"I was imprisoned five hours," said Mr. Duffy, "before being rescued. 
Three times I tried to call and the rescuers heard me, but could not locate my 
position from the sound of my voice, and I could hear them going away after 
getting close to me. 

"Finally I got hold of a lath from the ruins around me, poked it through 
a hole left by the falling of a steam pipe, and by using it and yelling at the same 
time, finally managed to show the people where I was. 

"There were about 300 persons killed in the destruction of the three hotels. 

"The business section of the place collapsed to the ground almost inside of 
five minutes. Then the fire started and burned Fourth street, from one end to 
the other, starting at each end and meeting in the middle, thus sweeping over 
the ruins and burning the imprisoned people. 

"I saw two arms protruding from one part of the debris and waving fran- 
tically. There was so much noise, however, that the screams could not be 



"'-■>'•-•'.■'■■"' 






.■■.-■,:■■:;;. 



\ 



112 EARTHQUAKES 

heard. Just then as I looked, the flames swept over them and cruelly finished 
the work begun by the earthquake. The sight sickened me, and I turned away." 

GHASTLY SCENE OF DESOLATION. 

Fred Anthony, a newspaper man from Los Angeles, who went to the 
doomed city soon after the buildings began to fall, said he never saw such a 
ghastly scene of general desolation. 

"There is no pen that can describe the scene of desolation left in the wake 
of the terrible disaster that has overtaken it," he said. 

"What made San Francisco famous was, when I reached there, nothing but 
heaps of smoldering debris. Its magnificent buildings, its markets, its gay and 
happy throngs were no more. Inhabitants were fleeing from it as though from 
a dread pestilence. The ferries were taking its thousands at every trip. The 
boats running in every direction, were loaded to the water line with fleeing 
people. 

"East street presented a scene the rout of an army never equaled for its 
disorder. Extending along the water front, it was the only means of access to 
the ferries. It was the one highway along which the rich and poor, old and 
young, with their bedding and worldly possessions tied up in every sort of odd 
package, were making their way. The scene beggared description, and the pen 
of a Hugo or Tolstoi would be unequal to give an adequate idea of it. 

"And, oh, the loss of it ! The awful isolation and waste of what men in this 



SOLDIERS JUDGE AND JURY. 

William Johnston, a traveling man, who went to the assistance of the 
soldiers, who were called on to assume command when the panic became great- 
est, was in the thickest of the horror. He said : 

"The soldiers, who were administering affairs with all the justice of judges 
and all the devotion of heroes, kept three or four buckets of water, even from 
the women, for these men,-who kept coining all the night long. 

"There was a little food, also kept by the soldiers for these emergencies, 
and the sergeant had in his charge one precious bottle of whisky, from which 
he doled out drinks to those who were utterly exhausted. 

Over in a corner of the plaza a band of men and women were praying, and 
one fanatic, driven crazy by horror, was crying out at the top of his voice : 

" 'The Lord sent it — the Lord !' 

TROOPER STOPS THE SCREAMING. 

"His hysterical crying got on the nerves of the soldiers and bade fair to 
start a panic among the women and children. A sergeant went over and stopped 
it by force. 

"All night they huddled together in this hell, with the fire making it bright 



EARTHQUAKES 113 

as day on all sides, and in the morning, the soldiers using their sense again, com- 
mandeered a supply of bread from a bakery, sent out another water squad, and 
fed the refugees with a semblance of breakfast. 

"There was one woman in the crowd who had been separated from her 
husband in a rush of the smoke, and did not know whether he was living or 
dead. The women attended to her all night, and in the morning the soldiers 
passed her through the line on her search. 

"A few Chinese made their way into the crowd. They were trembling, piti- 
fully scared, and willing to stop wherever the soldiers placed them. 

"When the flames began to spread a corps of volunteer aids ran along the 
edge of the fire, warning people out of the houses. But the flames ran too fast ; 
and two women were caught in the upper story of an old frame house. 

"A young man tore a rail from a fence and managed to scale it and reach 
the window. He seized one woman and managed to drop her on to the rail, 
down which she slipped without hurting herself a great deal. 

"But the roof fell while he was struggling with the other, and they fell 
together into the flames." 

EARTH SEEMED TO FALL. 

J. P. Anthony, of Pacific Grove, Cak, was in San Francisco when the 
shock, followed by the fire, hit the Golden Gate city. 

"I was sleeping in my room at the Ramona hotel on Ellis street, near 
Macon, when I was suddenly awakened at 5 :23," he said. "The first shock 
that brought me out of bed was appalling in its terrible force. The whole 
earth seemed to heave and fall. 

"The building where I was housed, which is six stories high, was lifted 
from its foundation and the roof caved in. A score or more of guests, men 
and women, immediately made their way to the street, which was soon filled 
with people, and a perfect panic ensued. Debris showered into the street 
from the buildings on every side. 

"As a result I saw a score or more of people killed. Women became 
hysterical and prayed in the streets, while men sat on the curbing appearing 
to be dazed. 

"It was twenty minutes before those in the vicinity seemed able to 
realize the enormity of the catastrophe. The crowds became larger and 
in the public squares of the city and in empty lots thousands of people 
gathered. 

POLICE WARN THE PEOPLE. 

"It was 9 o'clock before the police were in control of the situation. 
When they finally resumed charge the officers directed their energy toward 
warning the people in the streets away from danger. Buildings were on 
the brink of toppling over. 

"I was walking in Market street, near the Emporium, about 9 a. m., when 
a severe shock was felt. At once the street filled again with excited per- 
sons and thousands were soon gathered in the vicinity, paralyzed with fear. 



114 EARTHQUAKES 

, "Before the spectators could realize what had happened the walls of 
the building swayed a distance of three feet. The thousands of bystanders 
stood as if paralyzed, expecting every moment that they would be crushed, 
but another tremor seemed to restore the big building to its natural posi- 
tion. 

"I momentarily expected that, with thousands of others who were in 
the neighborhood. I would be crushed to death in a few moments. 

"I made my way down Market street as far as the Call building, 
from which flames were issuing at every window, with the blaze shoot- 
ing out through the roof. A similar condition prevailed in the Examiner 
building across the street. 

DETERMINED TO LEAVE CITY. 

"I then started for the depot at Third and Townsend streets, determined 
to leave the city. I found a procession of several thousand other persons 
headed in the same direction. 

"All south of Market street about that time was a crackling mass of 
flames. I made my way to Eighth and Market, thence down Eighth to 
Townsend and to Third street, and the entire section which I traversed was 
afire, making it impossible for me to reach my destination. I attempted 
to back track, but found that my retreat had been cut off by the flames. 

"I then went to Twelfth street and reached Market again by the city 
hall. San Francisco's magnificent municipal building had concaved like an 
egg shell. The steel dome was still standing, but the rest of the $3,000,000 
structure was a mass of charred ruins. 

HOSPITAL FULL OF DYING. 

"It was not yet noon, but the city's hospitals were already filled with 
dead and injured and all available storerooms were being pressed into 
service. Dead bodies were being carried from the streets in garbage wagons. 

"In every direction hysterical women were seen. Men walked through 
the streets weeping and others with blanched faces. 

'Transfer men were being offered fabulous sums to remove household 
goods, even for a block distance. Horses had been turned loose and were 
running at large to prevent their being incinerated in the burning buildings. 

"Women had loaded their personal belongings on carts and were pull- 
ing them through the city, the property being huddled in the public squares." 

ROCKED LIKE SHIP AT SEA. 

''The Grand hotel tossed like a ship at sea. There was a wavelike mo- 
tion, accompanied by a severe up and down tremp," said J. R. Hand of 
Los Angeles. "The shock was accompanied by a terrific roar that is in- 



116 EARTHQUAKES 

describable. An upright beam came through the floor of my room and the 
walls bulged in. I thought I should not get out alive. All my baggage 
was lost, but I still have the key to my room as a souvenir, No. 249. 

"I was on the third story of the hotel and got the last vacant room. No 
one in any of the stronger built hotels was killed, to the best of my knowledge. 
These hotels were destroyed by fire after being severely wrecked. I reached 
the ferry station by a trip of about six miles around by the Fairmount hotel 
and thence to the water front. 

"The Examiner building went up like a flash. I was standing in front 
of the Crocker building and saw the first smoke. Just then the soldiers ran 
us out. We went around two blocks and the next view we had the building 
was a mass of flames. The burning of the Palace was a beautiful sight 
from the bay." 

LIKE STALKS IN THE WIND. 

"The St. Francis hotel felt as if it would tip over," said Dr. W. Edward 
Hibbard at Pasadena. "I ran to the window' and saw the big buildings 
waving like stalks in the wind." 

Miss Lida Baker, of Des Moines, was a guest at the Terminus hotel 
and was awakened by the rocking of the hotel. She had just run into the 
middle of the street when the chimney of the building fell and crashed 
through the roof, carrying death and destruction to all who were in its 
path. 

She ran through the middle of the streets to the ferry, where hundreds 
of excited citizens were fighting for a chance to get aboard to be carried 
over to Oakland. She succeeded in getting aboard and arriving in time 
to catch a train from that place. 

NEWSPAPER WOMAN'S STORY. 

Helen Dare, a newspaper woman, in relating her experience, said : 
"No one who has not seen such a disaster as this that has befallen San 
Francisco can have any realization of the horror of it, of the pitiful helplessness 
and inadequacy of human beings thus suddenly cast before the destroying forces 
of nature. 

"Perhaps my own merely personal experience will tell the story as well 
as anything, for my personal experience is only that of the thousands of per- 
sons who were without an instant's warning thrown from a peaceful sleep 
into a paralysis of fear by the violent and continuous rocking of bed, of floor, 
of walls, of furniture, by the sounds of crashing chimneys, falling orna- 
ments and pictures, breaking glass and the startled screams of women and 
children. 

TELLS HOW QUAKE FELT. 

"As if with sudden impact, I felt my bed struck from the north and then 
heave violently. I jumped out, putting my hands out to steady myself, but the 
opposite walls seemed to move away from me. The floor rocked like a boat on 



EARTHQUAKES 117 

a choppy sea, the violence of the motion increasing and seeming ever and 
again to take a fresh start. It seemed as if it would never end, and yet it 
lasted but two minutes. My young son came running from his room and 
clasped in each other's arms we stood in the doorway of my room waiting, wait- 
ing. With a relaxing quiver — like the passing of a sigh, the heaving earth and 
billowing floor sank into repose. 

"We dressed and through the disarranged furniture, over the broken glass 
and fragments of ornaments we made our way out. The streets were full of 
people in every stage of undress and excitement, one young mother in her night 
dress clasping her eight-month-old baby in her arms and trying to warm it by 
wrapping her thin lawn garment around it. 

FEAR HUGE TIDAL WAVE. 

"The swarming people climbed the hills, their first fear being that a tidal 
wave would follow, and all eyes were on the bay, shining in the moonlight, but 
not even the sea wall of the land that the Fair estate is reclaiming from the 
ocean was hidden by water. The great gas tank near the water's edge was in 
flames and many believed the disturbance had come from the explosion of that. 

"By common instinct the people gathered in the streets. No one wanted 
to return to the threatening houses. 

"There were no cars, of course. Every one must walk who has no auto- 
mobile or carriage or wagon. 

"Automobiles were tearing and honking madly in every direction, filled 
with frightened men and women and children, some dressed as though for a 
promenade, others partly dressed or wrapped in bed clothes. 

HARROWING SIGHTS SEEN. 

"Never were stranger automobile parties than these. I saw one little 
woman carrying her baby, her tear-wet face clinging to its baby cheeks, and 
she wore only her night dress and a kimono as her tender bare feet pattered 
across the sidewalk from a mansion door to an automobile. 

"Here again is an old, old woman with wrinkled face, paper-white — some- 
body's grandmother she is — and she is being trundled along in an invalid chair, 
her family with hastily made bundles of clothes and valuables about her. 

"Here is a wagon filled with bedding and cooking utensils, a crying woman 
and a baby on the seat, a bird cage dangling at the tail and two men taking the 
part of horses. Then a crazy night hawk hack, a white-faced woman dragged 
from her sick bed in it, fainting in the arms of another woman. 

"Then a big road machine screeching along, a red-faced fat man standing 
up in it mopping his brow, his' eyes searching for the building that holds his 
business, and little street boys darting in and out snatching what they can get, 
throwing that away and snatching more like children wantonly picking wild 
flowers. 



118 



EARTHQUAKES 



EMPTY VAULTS OF VALUABLES. 

"I see one little creature capering with three hats on his head that he had 
taken from a show window. The banks and safe deposit vaults, the men and 
boys employed there, are busy pulling out drawers full of ledgers and valuable 
papers, carrying them away in their hands, loading them into wagons and even 
into wash buckets. On the steps of one bank, with the fire only a block away, I 
see a man wringing his hands and crying aloud, 'Will he never come, will he 
never come with the combination? My God, why doesn't he come?' 

"A theatrical man comes running along telling how the Grand Opera House 
has fallen in and is on fire with all Conreid's grand opera settings and the 
.singers' beautiful costumes going up in smoke. He laughs idiotically, poor 
chap, and says, 'Sudden close of the opera season, isn't it?' 

"I try to make my way to the ferry, first down one street and down another 
leading to the water front. Each one as I try, from Post to Washington, is 
closed by fire or wreckage, and there is no way through. On Washington 
street, opposite the old postoffice, a building has completely collapsed and under 
its edges are horses struggling and dying. 

"At: last we find an open way on the next street and with die warmth of the 
blaze of water front saloons on my back I hurry across the upheaved street and 
twisted car tracks. This is made ground, and the earthquake played with it as 
a child plays with a cardboard, cracking, creasing, bending it." 




THE FERRY BUILDING AT THE FOOT OF MARKET STREET, 
gaved From the Flames, 



CHAPTER IX. 
GOVERNMENT PROVIDES RELIEF. 

Senator Perkins, of Afflicted State, Asks Help — His Plea for $500,000 Meets With Approval 
— Amount Made $2,500,000 — Text of the Resolutions — Secretary of the Treasury Shaw 
Acts — Army and Navy Foices and Department of Commerce and Labor Co-Operate. 

"And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it into 
the earth and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake." — 
Rev., 8: 5. 

Congress was quick to realize the need of national aid for the sufferers and 
as quick to act. Two and a half million dollars w r as appropriated. On the 
convening of the Senate, Mr. Perkins, one of the senators from California, 
introduced a joint resolution, which was passed without comment, authorizing 
the secretary of war to use rations and quartermasters' supplies for the relief 
of destitute persons in the region devastated by earthquake and fire in Cali- 
fornia, and making an appropriation of $500,000 to relieve the sufferers. 

The senate resolution, having been passed by that body, was forwarded to 
the house, where it was amended by the committee on appropriations, the 
amount being increased to $1,000,000. 

The house adopted the resolution within ten minutes of its being reported. 

Later the amount was made $2,500,000. 

TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION. 

The resolution read as follows : 

"Whereas, the most terrible disaster which has ever taken place on this 
continent has occurred in the state of California, in which one-half of the city 
of San Francisco has been practically destroyed by earthquake and fire, and 
many towns and cities along the coast have suffered from similar devastations; 
and 

"Whereas, in all of the afflicted localities there has been wrought such ruin 
as has resulted in great loss of life and the serious injury of thousands of peo- 
ple ; and 

"Whereas, the destruction of dwelling houses has rendered homeless 100,- 
000 of the inhabitants of San Francisco alone ; and 

"Whereas, there is most urgent need to bury the dead, care for the injured 
and shelter and feed the homeless ; and 

"Whereas, the local administrations will for some time be unable to cope 
with the situation and extend such aid and assistance as is immediately neces- 
sary ; therefore, be it 

"Resolved, That the sum of $500,000 or such part thereof as may be neces- 
sary is hereby appropriated out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise 



EARTHQUAKES 121 

appropriated, to be expended by and under the direction of the secretary of war 
in the purchase and distribution of quartermasters' and commissary stores to 
such injured and destitute persons as may require assistance in the district 
devastated by earthquake and fire. 

"And the secretary of war is authorized to use the steamers and other boats 
and vessels belonging to or now employed by the government upon San Fran- 
cisco bay or adjacent waters in the transportation and distribution of supplies 
furnished by the United States or individuals to and among such destitute and 
suffering people, and he may employ such other means of transportation as he 
may deem necessary to carry the purpose of this joint resolution into effect." 

PRESIDENT ISSUES PROCLAMATION. 

President Roostvelt immediately after giving his official sanction to the act 
of Congress appropriating $2,500,000 to the sufferers held a conference with 
Miss Mabel Boardman of the American National Red Cross, and issued, in the 
form of a proclamation, an appeal to the American people for aid for the people 
of San Francisco. He asked that all contributions be made through the officials 
of the American National Red Cross, who have effected systematic arrangements 
for the distribution of the needed assistance. 

President Roosevelt in his proclamation said : 

In the face of so terrible and appalling a national calamity as that which has 
befallen San Francisco the outpouring of the nation's aid should, as far as pos- 
sible, be intrusted to the American Red Cross, the national organization best 
fitted to undertake such relief work. A specially appointed Red Cross agent, 
Dr. Edward Divine, starts today from New York for California to co-operate 
there with the Red Cross branch in the work of relief. 

In order that this work may be well systematized and in order that the con- 
tributions which I am sure will flow in with lavish generosity may be wisely ad- 
ministered I appeal to the people of the United States, to all cities, chambers of 
commerce, boards of trade, relief committees and individuals to express their 
sympathy and render their aid by contributions to the American National Red 
Cross. 

They can be sent to Charles Ffallam Keep, Red Cross treasurer, Washing- 
ton, D. C. ; Jacob H. Scruff, New York Red Cross treasurer, or other local Red 
Cross treasurers, to be forwarded by telegraph from Washington to the Red 
Cross agents and officers in California. Theodore Roosevelt. 

ANOTHER MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. 

The President followed this by sending another message to Congress as fol- 
lows: 

"To the Senate and House of Representatives : I submit herewith a letter 
of the Secretary of War, with accompanying documents, including a form of a 
resolution suggested for passage by the Congress. 

"This letter refers to the appalling catastrophe which has befallen San Fran- 



122 EARTHQUAKES 

cisco and neighboring cities, a catastrophe more appalling than any other of the 
kind that has befallen any portion of our country during its history. I am sure 
that there is need on my part of no more than a suggestion to the Congress in 
order that this resolution may be at once passed. But I urge that instead of 
appropriating a further sum of $1,000,000, as recommended by the Secretary of 
War, the appropriation be for $1,500,000. The supplies already delivered or en 
route for San Francisco approximate in value $1,500,000, which is more than we 
have authority in law as yet to purchase. I do not think it safe for us to reckon 
upon the need of spending less than $1,000,000 in addition. 

NO NEED OF FOREIGN AID. 

"Large sums are being raised by private subscriptions in this country, and 
very generous offers have been made to assist us by individuals of other coun- 
tries, which requests, however, I have refused, as, in my judgment, there is no 
need of any assistance from outside our own borders — this refusal, of course, in 
no way lessening our deep appreciation of the kindly sympathy which has 
prompted such offers. 

"The detailed action of the War Department is contained in the appendices 
to the letter of the Secretary of War. At this time our concern is purely with 
meeting the terrible emergency of the moment. Later I shall communicate with 
you as to the generous part which I am sure the national government will take in 
meeting the more permanent needs of the situation, including, of course, rebuild- 
ing the great governmental structures which have been destroyed. 

"I hope that the action above requested can be taken today. 

"Theodore Roosevelt. 

"The White House, April 21, 1906." 

SECRETARY SHAW ACTS. 

Secretary of the Treasury Shaw in his official capacity also came to the 
immediate assistance of San Francisco through its banks. The telegraphic 
transfer of $10,000,000 from the subtreasury in New York to the one in San 
Francisco was at once authorized. The cash was deposited in New York, where 
it was immediately paid out on the order of San Francisco banks entitled to it. 

This action on the part of the treasury department did much to relieve the 
immediate stringency that necessarily followed such a giant catastrophe as that 
which laid desolate the metropolis of the Pacific coast. 

The department of commerce and labor gave all the assistance within its 
purview. Dispatches were immediately sent by Secretary Metcalf to the light- 
house inspectors in San Francisco and to other officials directing boats under 
the control of the department to proceed at once to San Francisco and do every- 
thing possible to relieve the situation. The lighthouse tender Machono and the 
United States steamer Albatross at once proceeded to the city. 



CHAPTER X. 
HUMAN VAMPIRES SHOT DOWN. 

Ghouls Begin Their Awful Work Aftef Confusion Seizes the People — Bobbers of the Dead 
Are Slain by Soldiers and Police — Diamond Kings on Severed Fingers Found in Pockets 
of Men Killed by Guards — Guest of the Grand Hotel Watches the Loading of Drays 
With Human Bodies — Women Walk the Streets With Their Bare Feet Cut and Bleeding. 

That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay righteous with the wicked; and 
that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the judge of all 
the earth do right?— Gen. 18: 25. 

Fiends in human form, in whose bosoms was no sympathy for the stricken, 
began at once the unholy work of robbing the dead. In many cases these vam- 
pires were shot dead in their tracks by soldiers or policemen. 

A. J. Neve, manager of the great Owl drug store in San Francisco, barely 
escaped to Sacramento with his life. 

"The work of the villain — the vandal, the worse than murderer — was the 
thing that added rage to discouragement and despair," declared Mr. Neve. 
''Hundreds of women were crowded into the St. Francis Hotel, it being believed 
that it could withstand the flames. 

"The buildings burned on all sides of it and then it caught. The women 
were carried out and the villains cut off their fingers and put them in their pock- 
ets to secure the diamond rings. 

"There was only one consolation. The men caught at this work were shot 
without a question. Many of them were killed. Wherever men were found 
robbing dead bodies they were shot down. In the pocket of one who paid the 
penalty with his life there were five diamond rings that had been stripped from 
the fingers of the dead. 

''The soldiers, worn down and thirsty, broke into saloons to get water or 
liquor to brace them up. Many of them got drunk and the result was that they 
shot many innocent people. That is a simple truth. And yet the soldiers 
were not all to blame. They were on constant duty and were worn out. 

"Liquor that ordinarily would stimulate intoxicated, and therein lay the 
trouble." 

Sheriff William White of Los Angeles had a thrilling experience in San 
Jose, where he was a member of a party at a hotel. 

"The shock of the earthquake," he said, "was so severe that the floors and 
walls of the building collapsed at once, and those of us who escaped made our 
way as best we could out of the ruins. We had a room on the side of the hotel 
near a large tree. The side wall of my room fell against this tree, which also 
sustained that portion of the roof, preventing it from falling in on us. My 
room was on the second floor, but when I picked myself up I was in the base- 
ment of the building. 

124 



EARTHQUAKES 125 

"I crawled up and out over the debris and escaped through a window on a 
level with the ground. After getting out I discovered that this was one of the 
third story windows. Those of us who were uninjured at once set about assist- 
ing the less fortunate." 

LIKE CARCASSES IN BUTCHER'S WAGON. 

Thousands of persons had experiences similar to that thrillingly described 
by Sam Wolf of Chicago. Mr. Wolf said : 

"My room was in the Grand Hotel. When I awakened the house was shak- 
ing as a terrier might shake a rat. I dressed and ran downstairs to the street, 
which seemed to move like waves of water. On my way down Market street 
the whole side of a building fell out and- came so near to me that I was covered 
and blinded by the dust. 

"Then I saw the first dead come by. They were piled up in an automobile 
like carcasses in a butcher's wagon, all covered with blood, with crushed skulls 
and broken limbs. 

"A man cried out to me, 'Look out for that live wire.' I just had time to 
side-step certain death. On each side of me the fires were burning fiercely. I 
finally got into the open space before the ferry. The ground was still shaking 
and gaping open in places. Women and children knelt on the cold asphalt and 
prayed to God for mercy. 

"At last we got on the boat. Not a woman in the crowd had enough cloth- 
ing to keep her warm, to say nothing of money for fare. I took off my hat, put 
a little money in it, and we got enough money right there to pay all their fares. 

"I forgot to tell you I saved one of the women from sure death just before 1 
got out of the hotel. She was running toward an open window and I caught her 
as she was part way out. 'Where are you going?' I asked. 'Oh, I was going 
downstairs,' she answered. She would have fallen fifty feet to the stone pave- 
ment. 

"She followed me out on the street, barefooted, and cut her feet on the 
broken glass, leaving a trail of blood behind her. The last I saw of her she was 
on her knees, begging God for mercy on her sinful soul." 

HUMAN JACKALS LOOT THE DEAD. 

John W. Hancock, who was connected with the Palace Hotel, and who 
barely escaped from the shattered building with his life, said : 

"Just as the tottering walls of the Palace trembled for the last time and fell 
into the flaming ruins of the one-time splendid structure the last frightened guest 
was hurried from the building. 

"Half-burned bodies of naked men and women who were killed while try- 
ing to escape from the fire-trap lodging houses littered the streets. Human 
jackals were everywhere in evidence looting wrecked jewelry stores and the more 
daring wrenched rings from the fingers of the dead. 

"Although the military authorities tried desperately to stop the outrages, 



126 EARTHQUAKES 

they succeeded only in isolated instances, and in many quarters, notably the 
poorer portion of San Francisco, the dastardly criminals worked unmolested. 

"Chinatown was one of the first sections ruined; naked and half-naked men 
and women were running along the streets, cattle and horses were mixed up 
with the crowd, and the scene was one of indescribable confusion. The air 
seemed to be a sort of bluish yellow. To make matters worse, there was the 
most peculiar smell in the air. Then the buildings were leaning together in a 
crazy fashion and debris was falling everywhere. I knew when the water was 
gone that the city was gone. 

"I distinctly felt two heavy shocks before we left for Oakland, and after we 
got over to the Oakland side there were two more. 

"As we left the 'Frisco side I could see fire in all directions. Persons whom 
we met had come for many blocks, running to the water front, half-naked and 
with bare feet. At that time it was no easy matter to get through the streets 
for the stuff thrown about by the shock. The sight was the most horrible I ever 
witnessed, and I have seen many fires. 

"Some persons we met were cut about the face and hands by falling glass or 
windows, and others had been hit by stones. None of them seemed to know 
where they were going, but ran about in every direction." 

MOB LYNCHES TWO MISCREANTS. 

"Instant death to scores was the fate for vandalism," said Oliver Posey, Jr., 
a wealthy mining operator. "Not only did the soldiers execute summary justice 
on robbers, but citizens likewise took the law into their own hands. On the first 
afternoon in front of the Palace Hotel a crowd of workers in the ruins discov- 
ered a miscreant in the act of robbing a corpse of its jewels. Without delay he 
was seized, a rope procured, and he was immediately strung up to a beam which 
was left standing in the ruined entrance of the Palace Hotel. 

"No sooner had he been hoisted up and a hitch taken in the rope than one of 
his fellow criminals was captured. Stopping only to secure a few yards of 
hemp, a slip knot was quickly tied around his neck and the wretch was soon 
adorning the hotel entrance by the side of the other dastard." 

John Spencer, an employe of Ascot Park, also had much to say of the treat- 
ment of those caught in the act of rifling the dead of their jewels. 

"At Market and Third streets Wednesday," said Mr. Spencer, "I saw a per- 
son who could not be called a man attempting to cut the fingers from the hand 
of a dead woman in order to secure the rings which adorned them. Three sol- 
diers witnessed the deed at the same time and ordered the man to throw up his 
hands. Instead of obeying the command he drew a revolver from his pocket 
and began to fire at his pursuers. 

"Without more ado, the trio of Uncle Sam's soldiers, re-enforced by half a 
dozen uniformed patrolmen, raised their rifles to their shoulders and fired. With 
the first shots the fleeing human vampire fell, and when the soldiers went to the 
body to throw it into an alley eleven bullets were found to have entered it. 



128 EARTHQUAKES 

POOL OF BLOOD GHASTLY SIGHT. 

"Awful pictures of desolation met the eve on every side," said Leo Agoust, 
an acrobat. "We expected to be killed at any moment. Deafening reverbera- 
tions of exploding dynamite numbed 'the nerves until ordinary sounds could not 
be distinguished. As we stood at the wreck of the ferry building waiting our 
turn to go across to Oakland a sneakthief attempted to wrest the rings from the 
hand of my wife, who was standing at my side. 

"Before I could make a move toward the man a soldier stepped out of the 
jam of frightened, scrambling humanity and deliberately shot the pickpocket, 
who sank dead at the side of my wife. A small trickle of blood formed a ghastly 
pool on the uneven pavement, but no one paid any attention, for such Dccurrences 
happened hourly." 

E. C. Howard of 1334 Figueros street, traveling representative for a St. 
Louis chemical concern, was among the cool-headed ones who were able to for- 
get their own troubles and minister to the wants of others. 

"I was awakened by the terrible shock of the earthquake and jumped out of 
bed," said Howard. "I peered out of the window as I was dressing, and could 
see clouds of smoke beginning to arise from a dozen points, seemingly close at 
hand. I left the house after calming its frightened and screaming occupants. 1 
saw many maimed persons struggling to get out of that fearful ruin. 

"There was a great difference in the way people took misfortune. Some 
were wringing their hands and acting like maniacs. Others went quietly about 
their work, not only looking after their immediate needs, but going out of their 
way to help others in distress. The house in which I had been a guest on Eighth 
and Filmore streets looked like a pasteboard box that had been twisted out of 
shape after the shock. 

"I was informed that a number of fires were caused by women lighting their 
gas stoves to get breakfast, after the shock at about 5 o'clock. People were 
warned as much as possible against using their gas, but many disregarded the 
warning and many small explosions in various parts of the city kindled numer- 
ous fires that need not have occurred." 

CHINESE UNDERWORLD REVEALED, 

"Strange was the scene where San Francisco's Chinatown stood," said W. 
W. Overton, who went to Los Angeles with the first of the refugees. "No heap 
of smoking ruins marked the site of the wooden warrens where the slant- 
eyed men of the orient dwelt in thousands. The place was pitted with deep 
holes and seared with dark passageways from whose depths came smoke 
wreaths. All the wood had gone and the winds were streaking the ashes. 

"Many white men never knew the depth of Chinatown's underground 
city. They often talked of these subterranean runways. And many of them 
had gone beneath the street levels, two and three stories. But now that 
Chinatown had been unmasked, for the destroyed buildings were only a 
mask, men from the hillside looked on where its inner secrets lay. In places 
they could see passages 100 feet deep. 



EARTHQUAKES 129 

"The fire swept this Mongolian section clean. It left no shred of the 
painted wooden fabric. It ate down to the bare ground and this lay stark, for 
the breezes have taken away the light ashes. Joss houses and mission schools, 
grocery stores and opium dens, gambling hells and theaters — all of them went. 
The buildings blazed up like tissue paper lanterns used when the guttering 
candles touched their sides. 

"From this place, following the fire, I saw hundreds of fright-crazed yellow 
men flee. In their arms they bore their opium pipes, their money bags, their 
silks and their children. Beside them ran the baggy-trousered women, and some 
of them hobbled painfully. 

"These were the men and women of the surface. Far beneath the street 
levels in those cellars and passageways common to the district were other lives. 
Women who never saw the day from their darkened prisons and blinking jailers 
were caught like rats in a huge trap.. Their very bones were eaten by the flames. 

"And then there remained only the holes. They pitted the hillside like a 
multitude of ground-swallow nests. They showed depths which the police never 
knew. The secrets of those burrows will never be known, for into them the 
hungry fire first sifted its red coals and then licked eagerly in tongues of creeping 
flames, finally obliterating everything except the earth itself." 

SOLDIERS KILL TO END AGONY. 

"Soldiers shot living beings to save them from the torture of death in the 
flames," said Miss Margaret Underhill of Chicago, who was the house guest of 
friends at Eddy and Larkin streets. 

"The horror of it all was so overwhelming," said Miss Underhill, "that the 
sight of the dead became commonplace. The misery of the living received 
scarcely passing notice. Seconds seemed like hours and the two days like twenty 
years. 

"I was in a three-story frame building. The house seemed to swing like the 
pendulum of a clock. Plaster was falling about me and pictures fell from the 
wall as I sprang from my bed. 

"At that moment the brick chimney of the Sacred Heart College adjoining 
crashed through the ceiling, burying my led beneath the debris. A second 
chimney fell a few feet behind me as I rushed down the hall. After the shock 
subsided I returned, dressed, and with the help of my friend moved my tn. 
to the street, where I left it to be devoured by the flames. 

"Three times my friends and I stopped to make a camping place in the 
street where we thought the flames that were moving west would not reach us. 

"We stopped to watch the soldiers, firemen and policemen, who, with tim- 
bers from the wreckage, were at work on the front of a burning frame building. 
The front of the three-story structure had fallen outward. 

"Pinned beneath the structure was a man who pleaded piteously with the 
men who worked to release him. His head and shoulders projected from the 
wreckage. With his free arm he tried to help the workers by pulling at the tim- 



130 EARTHQUAKES 

bers. His eyes bulged from their sockets. One by one the men were driven 
back by the approaching flames, until at last only one, a soldier, remained. His 
face was blistered by the heat. 

SOLDIER CALMLY KILLS SUFFERER. 

" 'Good-by,' the soldier shouted, as a sheet of flame swept around the corner 
of the building. 

"The place was a roaring hell. The soldier picked up his rifle, which was 
standing against a broken timber, and turned to go. From where we stood we 
could see the very timber that held the man tfown smoke. His hair and mus- 
tache were singed. 

" 'For God's sake, shoot me,' he begged. His voice rose clear above the 
roar of the flames. The soldier turned and went back to within twenty-five feet 
of the man and said something. I could not hear what he said. Then he started 
to walk away. 

" 'Shoot me before you go,' the man yelled. The soldier turned quickly. 
His rifle was at his shoulder. The rifle cracked and the blood spurted from the 
head of the man. 

"I covered my eyes and walked on. 

"I saw mothers seated on the curbstones trying to still the hunger of their 
babies with beer. As we walked along the water front I saw them digging 
trendies and burying piles of dead. Garbage wagons served as hearses. 

"Wearied with the day, I slept soundly through the night. My bed was the 
rocks on North Beach." 

PANIC IN THE PALACE HOTEL. 

Horatio X. Hovey of Detroit described the panic in the Palace Hotel. 

"My family and I had apartments on the third floor of the Palace Hotel," 
said Mr. Hovey "It was about 5:15 o'clock when I was suddenly thrown from 
my bed by the terrible shock. 

"The panic in the hotel was awful. Everywhere persons were running 
about, evidently crazed or dazed. My daughters rushed into the corridor and 
almost at the same time my son Willard, who was sleeping in the third room of 
our suite, ran into my room. He was dazed. 

"It was only the work of an instant to dress. Finally we crowded our way 
down the staircase to the main floor. The big lobby of the hotel was crowded. 
People half clothed ran about the place calling for their friends or relatives. 
We managed tc reach the street, though our clothes were almost torn from our 
bodies in the crush when we attempted to leave the building. 

"The scene in Market street was terrible. Great piles of debris were in the 
streets and wherever we turned we could hear the heart-rending cries of the vic- 
tims. Many of the buildings l^ad fallen and by that time the fire had begun to 
eat its way up Market street. In front of the Palace Hotel great crowds had 
eathered. 






'-W 




Houses in Chinatown Showing the Narrow Streets. 



132 



EARTHQUAKES 



"As each second passed the scenes became more terrible. The fire was 
working its way up Market street and I saw that it would only be a short time 
before that part of the city would be burning. 

"I finally got a cab, and after making a wide detour of the city, staying out of 
the fire zone, I reached the Union Ferry station. Just as we reached the land- 
ing a boat left. I chartered a tug and in that way reached Oakland, where we 
took the Overland limited. 

"The whole thing seems like some awful dream. In fact, it all occurred so 
quickly that half of the details escaped me." 






- 



CITY OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. 

The Picture, Photographed from the City Hall Plaza, Shows the New Postoffice on the Right, with 

St. Joseph's Cathedral Adjoining. 



CHAPTER XI. 
CHICAGO AIDS SISTER CITY. 

San Francisco's Distress Recalls Days of '71 — Religious and Business Interests Organize 
for Good Work — Cash Fund Is Raised — Huge Committee Formed — Financiers Raise 
Fund to Help Desolate — Detectives Sent to Maintain Order — Mayor Dunne Issues 
Proclamation — Vesuvius Funds Diverted. 

"And the same hour was there a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell, 
and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, 
and gave glory to the God of Heaven. "—Rev., 11: 13. 

Chicago, with the memory of the dire days of 187 1 recalled, was cpuick to 
show sympathy in more than words. When the realization of the awful catas- 
trophe became apparent Chicago, through its mayor, Edward F. Dunne, its 
council and its leading citizens, at once went to work. 

The action was characteristic of Chicago. It was prompt. Within twenty- 
four hours this was done : 

The Board of Managers of the Young Men's Christian Association a; 
ranged to forward contributions for a relief fund to be distributed by the San 
Francisco organization. 

The directors of the Board of Trade met and formulated relief plans. 

Mayor Dunne telegraphed the San Francisco mayor, asking what form of 
relief would be most acceptable. 

CASH FUND IS RAISED. 

The Chicago Commercial Association raised a large cash fund for im- 
mediate relief work. 

The Chicago Clearing-house Association joined in the efforts to relieve the 
suffering in the earthquake zone. 

Santa Fe and Union and Southern Pacific railways offered free trans- 
portation for all supplies sent by Commercial Association to San Francisco. 

The postoffice clerks raised a large fund to swell the total of Chicago relief 
contribution. 

The Congregational ministers as an association joined in tendering relief. 

The Postal Telegraph Cable Company transmitted free domestic messages 
relating to the relief of sufferers when offered by duly constituted relief organ- 
izations or public officers in their official capacity. 

PROMINENT CITIZENS GIVE THEIR SERVICES. 

Mayor Dunne, by action of the council, appointed 500 of the most promi- 
nent and public-spirited citizens to act as a committee to take general charge. 
This body was made up of representatives of the various business organizations, 



134 EARTHQUAKES 

newspapers and civic organizations in the city. Each bank was requested to 
suggest one of its officers to represent it on the committee. 

There w r ere representatives from the Board of Trade, the Chicago Stock 
Exchange, the Chicago Clearing-house, the newspapers, the Illinois Manufac- 
turers' .Association, the Chicago, the Marquette, the Iroquois, the Jefferson, the 
Hamilton and other prominent clubs. 

MAYOR URGES PROMPT ACTION. 

"Chicago ought to do herself proud," said Mayor Dunne, "and should take 
the lead in giving quick relief. We have been through a terrible disaster our- 
selves, and know the generosity of the world. We should do all we can to aid 
San Francisco in her affliction. We all are actuated by the same purposes and 
have the same desires to alleviate the distress there as early as possible. 

"The main thing is to send money. Chicago is so far away that it will 
take a long time to get supplies there. Money will do everything. It was 
certainly the worst character of a disaster that could happen. It was shocking. 
First the earthquake broke the waterworks and all means of safety and now 
the fire is threatening the city." 

FIREMEN AID THOSE MADE DESOLATE. 

The fire department, whose members, better than anyone else, knew the 
awful extent of the catastrophe and realized that half had not been revealed in 
the press dispatches, copious as they were, also came to the aid of the sufferers. 

Fire Marshal Campion issued a proclamation calling on the members of the 
department for contributions. The response was prompt and gratifying. Be- 
side the individual subscriptions, the Firemen's Association levied an assess- 
ment. 

The police were not to be outdone in the matter of charity nor in aid of a 
potent nature in protecting life and property so far as in their power lay. Sev- 
eral hundred dollars were collected from the members of the department. 

DETECTIVES ASSIST IN KEEPING ORDER. 

With wide experience with crime and criminals, Chief of Police Collins 
recognized the fact there would be a hegira to the stricken and devastated city. 

On the first train after the seriousness of the situation was accurately 
known ten of the shrewdest thief catchers in Chicago left for San Francisco 
and remained until order had been restored and danger from thieves, pickpock- 
ets, murderers and other criminals had passed. How well they did their share 
of the hard task, the records of the police department of San Francisco testify. 

PROCLAMATION TO CHICAGOANS. 

In addition to the organized relief work general appeal was made to the 
people of Chicago as a whole. This was in the shape of a proclamation issued 
by Mayor Dunne. It read as follows : 



136 



EARTHQUAKES 



"To the People of Chicago: Recent dispatches indicate the appalling nature 
of the catastrophe at San Francisco. Distress and destitution must be wide- 
spread and all prevalent. Instant action is imperative. I call upon the citizens 
of Chicago to act promptly and generously in the face of the great disaster 
which has fallen upon our sister city until a relief committee is organized. I 
earnestly call upon the people of Chicago to be prompt and generous in thh 
crisis. . E. F. Dunne, Mayor." 

The Chicago Vesuvius relief fund, organized to aid the volcano vicun.s 
in Italy, also joined in the general move to aid San Francisco. The directors 
added "Frisco" to the name of their organization and divided their funds equally 
between the California and Italian sufferers. 



i&^«fe& 




THE PRESIDIO, U. S. MILITARY RESERVATION AT SAN FRANCISCO. 
Many Thousands Were in Camp There. 



CHAPTER XII. 
MEN AND WOMEN WEEP, CURSE AND PRAY. 

Scenes Beyond Description Enacted When Fire Begins Its Work of Destruction Are Recited 
by a Survivor — Great Buildings Crumble and Fall Before the Mighty Sweep of the 
Blaze — Earthquake Shocks and Dynamite Explosions Make Deadly Din — Crowds, Driven 
Insane by Horror and Fear, Stand in the Street and Laugh Mechanically — Huge Bocks 
Fly Through the Air, Striking Down Dozens of Fleeing Victims. 

Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook be- 
cause he was wroth. — 2 Sam. 22: 8. 

When the city burst into flame scenes beyond the power of human beings to 
describe were enacted in all quarters of the stricken district. Men and women 
prayed, cursed and wept, and called on God to save them from the awful 
doom that threatened. 

Mrs. Mary Longstreet related vivid impressions of the disaster : 

"It was terrible, too terrible to describe," said Mrs. Longstreet. "We were all 
on the eighth floor of the St. Francis Hotel, our apartments connecting. I was 
awakened by a terrible shaking motion and jumped out of bed and tried to go to 
mother's room, but was unable to stand. The hotel building rocked like a ship 
in a storm, and it seemed to me that it tipped over so far at times that it could 
never straighten again. 

"After the shock I went to mother's room. We went to the window and 
looked out across the square. The scene was horrible. Big buildings were in 
ruins, some completely demolished and others standing with great cracks in the 
walls, tottering and ready to fall. 

"Suddenly, as we were standing there, the entire city seemed to catch fire. 
In all directions and as far as we could see the great tongues of flames leaped 
into the sky. Our building on Mission street, across from the Grand Opera 
House, was first to go. Terrified as we were, we stood by the window and in 
less time than it takes to tell it the entire part of the city between us and the 
ferry was ablaze. It was a beautiful, yet terrible sight. 

"We remained in the hotel until io o'clock and at that time Mr. Wilcox suc- 
ceeded in getting a carriage and an automobile. We then left the hotel and 
drove to the home of friends a mile away. When we got there we found the 
house in ruins. We then went to the home of the Tevis' and remained there 
until we were driven out by fire. Finally we found refuge at the residence of 
J. M. Winslow on Nob Hill. 

TEN "HARDTACKS" FOR FOUR. 

"We slept on the floor that night, but they had no food, and after scouring 
the city my brother managed to purchase ten hardtack biscuits and four boxes of 
sardines, and after eating these four of us made beds on the floor and tried to 
sleep. 



138 EARTHQUAKES 

"We had a little tallow candle in our room, and that we did not need. The 
hundreds of fires made the city as light as day, but it was a ghastly, sickening 
glow that made one tremble with fear. Words cannot describe human emotions 
at such a time as that, and I wish I could shake off that feeling that has clung 
to me ever since the first shock of that earthquake that aroused me from my 
slumbers. 

"I saved some things — three pairs of shoes. I believe I put the shoes in a 
grip and brought them along. My diamonds and money I left in the hotel. But 
we all did that. Xo one at such a time cares for his effects. We expected 
death at any minute and were surprised that it did not come. Can you wonder 
that I saved the shoes instead of my more valuable possessions? 

"I have a lot in San Francisco and was offered $75,000 for it the day before 
the earthquake, but I refused it, as I had intended erecting a large office building 
on it myself. Now, I suppose, it is almost worthless, but that does not worry me. 

"THAT NIGHT WAS AWFUL." 

"I would be willing to forget the lot and all if I could only forget the ter- 
rible scenes that I was forced to witness in our many attempts to escape to a 
place of safety, 

"That night was awful. We could hear the cries of the suffering people 
and the crash of falling buildings all night long. Van Ness avenue was crowded 
with people, mothers earning babies, men and women packing on their backs 
what few things they had managed to save. Where all those people found food 
and shelter I cannot imagine. We had no water and almost died from thirst. 

"You would never know San Francisco now. It is nothing but ruins. Did 
you ever see a child build a house with blocks and then knock it down? Well, 
that is the way buildings fell all over the city during the earthquake." 

"I cannot describe it," said Mrs. Wilcox, when asked for her experience. 
"I woke at the first tremble, and oh! what a terrible sensation. Plaster fell from 
the walls and I expected at any second to see the St. Francis Hotel crumble to the 
earth. 

LIKE THOUSANDS OF VIOLINS. 

"With the earthquake came that horrible roar. It sounded like thousands of 
violins being played on the bass strings and all at a discord. It was the most 
harrowing sound one could imagine. Did you ever see the picture of hell which 
hangs in the Santa Barbara Mission? It was something like that, only a thou- 
sand times worse. 

"We lost everything we had, all our clothing and jewelry, but we considered 
ourselves very fortunate in getting away with our lives. We had a hard time 
getting to Oakland, where we caught a train. The railroad people deserve great 
credit. On the train we were shown every courtesy. If people did not have 
money they were taken along just the same. Money was no object at that time." 

Dr. Ernest W. Fleming, of Los Angeles, a guest at the Palace Hotel, told 
this story: 






■$&t 



UA-~^*JL 




140 EARTHQUAKES 

"I was sleeping in a room on the third floor of the hotel when the first 
shock occurred. An earthquake in San Francisco was no new sensation to me. 
I was there in 1868, as a boy 10 years old, when the first great earthquake came. 
But that was a gentle rocking of a cradle to the one of Wednesday. 

"I awoke to the groaning of timbers, the grinding, creaking sound, then 
came the roaring street. Plastering and wall decorations fell. The sensation 
was as though the buildings were stretching and writhing like a snake. The 
darkness was intense. Shrieks of women, higher, shriller than that of the creak- 
ing timbers, cut the air. I tumbled from the bed and crawled, scrambling to- 
ward the door. The twisting and writhing appeared to increase. The air was 
oppressive. I seemed to be saying to myself: 'Will it never, never stop?' I 
wrenched the lock, the door of the room swung back against my shoulder. Just 
then the building seemed to breathe, stagger and right itself. 

"But -I fled from that building as from a falling wall. I could not believe 
that it could endure such a shock and still stand. The next I remember I was 
standing in the street laughing at the unholy appearance of half a hundred men 
clad in pajamas — and less. 

MEN AND WOMEN IN NIGHT CLOTHES. 

"The women were in their night robes; they made a better appearance than 
the men. 

"The street was a rainbow of colors in the early morning light. There was 
every stripe and hue of raiment never intended to be seen outside the boudoir. 
I looked at a man at my side ; he was laughing at me. Then for the first time I 
became aware that I was in pajamas myself. I turned and fled back to my 
room. 

"There I dressed, packed my grip and hastened back to the street. All the 
big buildings on Market street toward the ferry were standing, but I marked 
four separate fires. The fronts of the small buildings had fallen out into the 
streets and at some places the debris had broken through the sidewalk into cellars. 

"I noticed two women near me. They were apparently without escort. 
One said to the other : 'What wouldn't I give to be back in Los Angeles again.' 

"That awakened a kindred feeling and I offered my assistance. I put my 
overcoat on the stone steps of a building and told them to sit there. 

"In less than two minutes those steps appeared to pitch everything forward, 
to be flying at me. The groaning and writhing started- afresh. 

ALL STUNNED BY THE SHOCK. 

"But I was just stunned. I stood there in the street with debris falling 
about me. It seemed the natural thing for the tops of buildings to careen over 
and for fronts to fall out. I do not even recall that the women screamed. 

"The street gave a convulsive shudder and the buildings somehow righted 
themselves again. I thought they had crashed together above my head. The 
two women arose and started to walk. I followed in an aimless sort of way. 



EARTHQUAKES 141 

The street was filled with moving things again. The rainbow raiment had dis- 
appeared, and all were clad in street clothes. Every one was walking, but there 
was no confusion. We did not even seem in a hurry. Down Market street the 
flames were growing brighter. 

"We walked without baggage to the St. Francis. Fires were burning down 
toward the ferry, but the fire department had turned it. We had faith in the fire 
department. 

"Soon I became aware that squads of soldiers were patrolling the streets. It 
appeared perfectly natural. I do not think I wondered why they were there. 

"Men and women were all about us. We looked at each other and talked — 
even tried lamely to joke. But every few minutes a convulsive quiver swept 
through the city. The others seemed to be shivering. 

"I noticed that the eyes of the men and women were rolling restlessly. 
Their tones were pitched high. It seemed to grate on my nerves. Then I fell 
to wondering whether I was talking shrilly, too. 

GROCER GAVE THE RIGHT CHANGE. 

"I went to a grocery without a front and bought a few supplies — 'things that 
would make a cold lunch. The grocer did not even overcharge me. He was 
particular to give me the right change. 

"The soldiers came and told us to move on. It seemed the natural thing 
to do. 

"By this time the fire was creeping dangerously close. We would have 
walked to the ferry. We tried it on a score of streets, but that wall of fire was 
always there. It seemed to creep across in front of us. 

"And in front of the fire always walked the soldiers. A number of times I 
hired express wagons. We would ride for a few blocks and get out on the side- 
walk. In not a single instance were we charged more than a reasonable price 
for the ride. 

"Once we loitered until the soldiers came up. A rough fellow, who had 
been standing by my side, tried to dart through the line. He looked like a 
beach-comber. 

"A young lieutenant caught him by the coat. 'Here !' he called to his men. 
'Shoot this man.' 

"I hurried on, without looking back. I don't remember whether I heard a 
shot fired. But at the time it seemed so trivial a matter that I did not pay much 
attention." 

EGGS COST $i APIECE. 

John Singleton, a Los Angeles millionaire, his wife and her sister. The 
Singletons were staying at the Palace Hotel when the earthquake occurred. Mr. 
Singleton gives the following account of his experience : 

"The shock wrecked the rooms in which we were sleeping. We managed 
to get our clothes on and get out immediately. We had been at the hotel only 
two days and left probably $3,000 worth of personal effects in the room. 



142 EARTHQUAKES 

"After leaving the Palace we secured an express wagon for $25 to take us 
to the Casino, near Golden Gate Park, where we stayed Wednesday night. On 
Thursday morning we managed to get a conveyance at enormous cost and spent 
the entire day in getting to the Palace. We paid $1 apiece for eggs and $2 for 
a loaf of bread. On these and a little ham we had to be satisfied." 



STONES FLY LIKE RAIN. 

Henry Bolton of Chicago, who was a guest at the Grand Hotel, New Mont- 
gomery and Market streets, told a tale of horror. 

"I had a customer in my room in the Grand Hotel on the night of April 17," 
he said, "and when I finished selling him and his wife a bill of goods at 1 130 a. m. 
on the 1 8th it was too late for them to go back to Berkeley at that hour. Every 
room in the hotel was taken and I gave them my room, while I went to sleep with 
my friend, Mr. Roberts, Jr., in the Pacific Hotel. 

"We retired about 2 -.30 a. m., and slept until we were awakened by the 
shock. In a second I knew it was an earthquake. The rocks or cement were 
pelting in the open windows like rain. I have some of these to show you as 
relics. The motion was a spinning one, grew right to left and back again. 

"Everything was commotion in a moment. We dressed and went over to 
my room at the Grand Hotel. Our friends had gone, the door was unlocked, the 
ceiling was down, the walls were all in and all over the floors of the halls. We 
rushed out in the street only to find wreckage everywhere. On Market street 
fronts of buildings had fallen. Little blazes of fire broke out in all directions. 
Soon small buildings were in ruins. Bodies were buried beneath them. Near 
the Grand on the street east a drove of steers were being driven to slaughter. 

SMOKE POURS OUT OF DEBRIS. 

"The buildings on either side were down ; the street was a narrow one ; the 
steers were piled up in a heap, buried beneath the rocks — about, twenty-five of 
them — five or six head escaped unhurt, as had the driver. Such a sight ! People 
coming from everywhere. 

"Smoke was pouring out of the mass of debris. As far as our eyes could 
see there was evidence of fire. We wended our way zig-zag about and went 
down in the Mission districts — the poor people of the lower classes — the women 
were carrying their children to a place of more danger than of less. By this 
time we began to see that there was danger of being cut off by the fires and we 
retreated as fast as we could — none too soon. 

"The next twenty-four hours were spent by the people in moving and in 
abandoning their belongings. Not one per cent of the goods that people at- 
tempted to save was saved. Such a day ! About 10 a. m. we began to see evi- 
dences of our hotels (the Grand and the Palace) burning; until then we had not 
thought it possible the flames would reach them. We went to our hotels to save 
what we could. I packed my grip, taking only what I needed or really ' wanted ; 




UJ 



144 EARTHQUAKES 

I managed to save my photo book, my order book, clothing and valuables. The 
water mains were put out of service and there was no water. 

MARTIAL LAW BEGINS QUICKLY. 

"It was something remarkable to note the promptness with which the gov- 
ernment took charge of matters through the military channels. By 9 o'clock in 
the morning of the 18th the city was under martial law — troops everywhere. In 
places on Market street the street is sunken from one to ten feet. 

"Fire now raged about us. Dynamite was used by tons, blowing up build- 
ings. The wind blew first from the south, then from the west, then from the 
east; I never experienced anything like it before. Thus the fire spread. We 
moved our grips a dozen times. And the personal trunk of my friend, Mr. Rob- 
erts, we moved fully a dozen times from place to place until night. 

"We registered in the Savoy Hotel, just opposite the park and across from 
the new Francis Hotel — four of us in one room. There we had our supper. 

"There was another slight shock which started the women to screaming and 
they fled. The dining room was on the fourth floor. We, however, sat still and 
ate our supper. As night came on we went up to Nob Hill and in every direc- 
tion was a furnace of flame. Such a fire ! In fact, fire on fires. 

GRAND AND AWFUL SIGHT. 

"We then came down through the center of the city near the ruins of the 
Palace and Grand. It had been supposed that the fire was under control, but 
now all hope was gone. The Crocker Building had at last received its baptism 
of fire ; this was the last hope of saving the section where the Lick House and 
the largest banks were located. Such a rain of fire ! The sky was filled with 
sparks from Chinatown. A grand and awful sight! 

"We decided to move and a conference was held. We concluded to flee to 
Oakland ; but first took a stroll into the western section of the city. The flames 
were sweeping on toward the center of the city at a great rate. 

"The men of the party fully decided now to move, and without hunting up 
the landlord — who had already gone — we skipped our second hotel bill in a single 
day. I have keys from both hotels as souvenirs. 

"We walked miles to get to the ferry boat. Such sights ! The car rails 
were twisted up, broken apart, separated by six inches in places ; great cracks in 
the earth. On board the ferry boat we ate another supper, journeying nowhere 
in the middle of the night. 

"Reaching Oakland we traveled, footsore and weary, through its streets, 
seeking a resting place. We called at hotels only to see, at a glance, that there 
was no room. They had every chair full of paid guests at 50 cents and $1. a 
head for sitting up. Our only hope was to obtain shelter and rest in a private 
house. So everywhere we saw T a light we rang the bell, only to be told of like- 
lihood of our being able to find accommodation in the center of the next block. 
We finally found a dear fellow who took us in and gave us his beds ; he, his wife 
and baby were sleeping on the parlor floor for fear of another quake. 



EARTHQUAKES 145 

AFRAID TO SLEEP IN HOMES. 

"It was a sight long to be remembered to see the people asleep in their auto 
cars, on the porches, on the terraces of their homes, rather than in their homes. 

"There were two of my competitors in the Palace Hotel and two in the Lick 
House. Elmer Schram of Schram Bros., Chicago ; George L. Roberts of the 
Tabor-Prang Art Company, Springfield, Mass. ; John W. Herwig of the H. 
Lieber Company, Indianapolis, and M. Schloss of the W. Franklin Company, 
Chicago. Ore of those men was accompanied by his wife. 

"The members of the party who were without their wives formed a sympa- 
thetic quartet, as all four of us had lost all of even our commercial baggage in the 
fire. We lost, all told, forty-four trunks and samples, valued at $7,500. In ad- 
dition to our commercial baggage, we lost much of our personal baggage. Mr. 
Schram, who was accompanied by his wife, lost everything except what he 
had as he left the hotel. 



BLASPHEMY IS AWFUL. 

"One thing that .mpressed us all was the blasphemous language used on the 
street, and the great number of drunken men. Never in any one period of 
twenty-four hours hav: I heard so much blasphemous language or seen so many 
drunken men. Yet the great crowd was orderly and obedient to every command 
of the law — though I learned that numbers of men were shot down while per- 
petrating the awful crime of robbing the dead. 

"The city was under military law almost from the inception of the terrible 
ordeal caused by the earthquake. To see hundreds of fires break out simul- 
taneously in all parts of the city and to note the destruction was something won- 
derful and terrible." 



BIG BUILDING ROCKS LIKE BOAT. 

J. A. Floyd of Chicago, a Pullman conductor, who was in the Terminal 
Hotel when the crash came, described his experiences as follows : 

"I was asleep in my room on the fourth floor of the Terminal Hotel, in Mar- 
ket street, two blocks up from the ferry, when I was awakened by plaster hitting 
me in the face. I was unable to stand upright because the entire building was 
rocking like a boat in a gale. I clung to the sill of the door, while I could hear 
crash after crash of falling buildings and the shrieks of the injured. 

"As soon as I could I ran downstairs, before stopping to dress, and joined 
the throng of unclad men, women and children who filled the street. All around 
us we could hear the cries of the injured and helped them as best we could. We 
broke open drug stores and confiscated what we found in our effort to help the 
injured. 

"When thir.gs were quieter I went back to my room to dress. I then dis- 
covered for the first time that the entire wall had fallen out. I then joined in 
the work of rescue — I call it that, altrourh there was nothing left to rescue. 



146 



EARTHQUAKES 



SEES SCORE ROASTED TO DEATH. 

"All this took only a very few minutes. 'When I arrived on the street level 
again the flames commenced. They seemed to jump from both sides of Market 
street at once. A big wholesale drug house at Seventh street exploded, throw- 
ing out brilliant colored particles for hundreds of feet. The ashes and sparks 
fell with awful torture on the scantily protected backs and faces of the women 
and children. 

"Soon the wagons of dead began to arrive. Express wagons, cabs, automo- 
biles, and vehicles of all kinds dashed by all piled high with ghastly loads. 

"With three or four sailors from the water front I ran up Seventh street to 
aid a score of men and women who had been crushed under a flat building. We 
.could not help them. We had to stand quiet and inactive while they were slowly 
roasted to death. 

"The street level then had become very irregular, depressions and humps of 
four feet being common. Like a mocker}-, the water from the burst mains 
spouted into the air, while the firemen were attempting to get water to fight the 
fire, which by this time was carrying everything in its path. 

"One man in a light runabout, clad only in his underclothing, then rushed 
by. Turning his machine, he ran round and round at Market and Seventh. The 
maniac injured a score before he was controlled. 

"Everybody in the crowd was absolutely demoralized. Frantic women 
from the aristocratic hotels ran side by side with the denizens of the underworld. 

"With 7,000 other refugees I crowded on an Oakland ferryboat and left the 
scene. The train soon left, going by Stockton, where the track was not torn up." 




THE LICK MONUMENT AT THE CITY HAIJ,.J 
Built in Memory of the Founder of lack Observatory. 




u^ne'l— * 



CHAPTER XIII. 
SHOCK IS FELT AROUND THE WORLD. 

Delicate Scientific Instruments Record Terrific Seismic Disturbance Thousands of Miles 
Away— Marked at National Capital — Cause of Earthquake Is Given— How the Shocks 
Are Recorded — Startling Theories Advanced and Disputed— Blamed to Boiling Heart 
of Globe and Fracture of Shell. 

"Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and 
great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire." — Isaiah, 29: G. 

The shock that brought death and destruction to San Francisco was felt 
around the world. Scientists who have made the study of earthquakes and 
their accompanying phenomena a specialty were enabled by their delicate in- 
struments to record earth waves imperceptible to man. 

These reports show the earthquake shock traveled around the globe in an 
incredibly brief period of time, measured by minutes and seconds. Scientists 
disagreed as to the starting point of the wave. It may have taken place in the 
South American volcanic region or under the bed of the Pacific ocean. San 
Francisco got the result of the wave as it struck the continent, and almost 
simultaneously the instruments in Washington reported a decided tremor of 
the earth, and the oscillations of the needle continued until about noon. 

MARKED AT THE NATIONAL CAPITAL. 

At the weather bureau the needle was taken from the pivot and had to be 
replaced before the record could be continued. Other government stations 
throughout the country also noted the earthquake shock. 

There seems to be no reason to believe the earthquake shock in San Fran- 
cisco had any direct connection with the eruption of Vesuvius. That eruption has 
been recorded from day to day on the delicate instruments established by the 
weather bureau at the lofty station on Mount Weather, high up in the Vir- 
ginia hills. 

This eruption of Vesuvius did not disturb the seismograph even at the 
period of greatest activity, but apparently Vesuvius and Mount Weather were 
like the lofty poles of two wireless telegraph stations, and between them there 
passed electrical magnetic waves encircling the earth. The records made at 
Mount Weather were of the most distinct character, but they showed disturb- 
ances in the air of a magnetic type and did not indicate any earthquake. 

CAUSE OF EARTHQUAKES IS GIVEN. 

In explaining the San Francisco trembling, C. W. Hays, the director of 
geology in the United States geological survey, explained that earthquakes are, 
according to modern scientific theory, caused by subterranean land slides, the 

148 



EARTHQUAKES , 149 

result of a readjustment as between the solid and the molten parts of the earth's 
interior. 

"The earth," he said, u is in a condition of unstable equilibrium so far as 
its insides are concerned. The outer crust is solid, but after you get down sixty 
or seventy miles the rocks are nearly in a fluid condition owing to great pressure 
upon them. They flow to adjust themselves to changed conditions, but as the 
crust cools it condenses, hardens, and cracks, and occasionally the tremendous 
energy inside is manifested on the surface. 

"When the semi-fluid rocks in the interior change their position there is a 
readjustment of the surface like the breaking up of ice in a river, and the 
grinding causes the earthquake shocks which are familiar in various parts of the 
world." 

There are apparently three distinct weak spots in the United States, which 
are peculiarly subject to earthquake shocks. There is one weak area along the 
southern Atlantic coast in the vicinity of Charleston, another is in Missouri, and 
the third includes the Pacific coast from a point north of San Francisco down 
to and beyond San Diego. 

HOW THE SHOCKS ARE RECORDED. 

The delicate apparatus used in recording the movements of earthquakes 
consists of a pen drawing a continuous line on a cylinder which revolves once 
every hour and is worked continuously by clockwork in an exact record of time. 
It moves in a straight line when there is no disturbance, and it jumps from right 
to left and back again when there are serious oscillations of the earth. The 
extent of these movements of the pen measures the grade of the oscillation. 
It may seem like a fantastic statement, but this seismographic pen is adjusted 
so delicately that it will register your step in its vicinity. 

The instrument is mounted on a solid stone foundation and what it registers 
is the effect of your weight pressing upon the earth. 

Most of the scientists are inclined to believe that the boiling process in the 
interior of the earth, although it goes on continuously, is subject to periods of 
greater or less activity. This activity may be, however, purely local, according 
to the scientific theory, for otherwise there would be eruptions in all the active 
volcanoes of the earth at the same time, and there would be earthquakes in 
every one of the areas where there is iiability to seismic disturbances. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
BULLET BRINGS MERCIFUL DEATH. 

San Francisco Mining Engineer Witnesses Shocking Sights — Policeman Shoots and Ends 
Sufferings of Poor Wretch Pinned Under Wreckage, With Fire Eating Away His Feet — 
Maddened Horses and Cattle Dash Through Crowded Streets, Trampling Down Human 
Beings — Persons Who Kneel to Pray Are Crushed to Earth by Falling Timbers — Agon- 
ized Women, Carrying Dead Babies in Their Arms, Vainly Plead for Assistance. 

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and 
island were moved out of their places. — Rev. 6: 14. 

Crushed under heavy timbers and stones, and with no possible escape from 
death, dozens of persons cried in agony for a speedy end. Many of them were 
mercifully shot by soldiers or policemen. 

E. Call Brown, a San Francisco mining engineer and geologist, saw strange 
and awful sights from the windows of his room in the Argyll Hotel, on McAlles- 
ter street. 

"The most terrible thing I saw," said Mr. Brown, "was the futile struggle of 
a policeman and others to rescue a man who was pinned down in burning wreck- 
age. It was a race with the fire and a losing race. The helpless man watched 
it in silence till the fire began burning his feet. Then he screamed and begged 
to be killed. The policeman took his name and address and shot him through 
the head. Sentimental tradition was abeyant in us for many hours there and we 
did the things which we found to do. Utility was our only standard of action. 

"I was awakened by a slight, quivering sensation. I sprang out of bed and 
ran to the window. I was there looking out at the city hall when the first real 
shock came. 

"It seemed to be a great throw of the earth from north to south. The first 
shock flung the whole front of the old supreme court building into a vacant lot 
on Larkin street. There were two policemen talking together there and they 
were buried deep in a mass of brick and stone. I stood there at the window 
and watched." 

PASS PILES OF HUMAN BODIES. 

Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Harriman, of Baltimore, were quartered on the twelfth 
floor of the St. Francis Hotel when the shock came. 

"The room seemed to twist out of shape," said Mr. Harriman, "and the 
furniture was disarranged. The door stuck and it required all my strength to 
open it. Men were shouting, women screaming hysterically and everybody 
endeavoring to get to the elevators and stairways. It was soon discovered that 
the elevators were not running and the people literally fell and rolled down the 
narrow stairs. 

"My wife and I descended and on the first floor found a mass of people 
whom the hotel employes were imploring to remain there, as it was the safest 
place, but all seemed determined to get outside. 

150 



152 EARTHQUAKES 

"Dressing as we ran, my wife and I found that we had grabbed up enough 
clothes to present a respectable appearance, except that we had no shoes. We 
gradually fought our way northward, finally reaching one of the ferries. 

"All along the way we saw bodies of human beings who had met death in 
the most horrible forms. Some had been crushed by falling walls, others had 
jumped from high buildings, while still others had been trampled to death by 
the excited populace. Horses, having broken their hitch reins, were dashing 
frantically up and down the streets and some people were killed by the fright- 
ened animals. Live wires menaced the people everywhere and many met death 
by coming in contact with them." 

TERRIBLE NOISE FROM QUAKE. 

"I was on the fifth floor of the Palace Hotel, in bed, when the shock came," 
said E. S. Ransom, of Chicago. "Just as I was, in a night shirt, I made a rush 
for the stairs. Everybody else in the hotel was rushing down the stairs and as 
far as I know everybody reached the street safely. 

"The most terrifying thing was the noise, caused by the twisting and strain- 
ing of the great buildings. 

"Before the second shock I ran back into the Palace to get my clothes and 
suitcase. When I tried to find my way out of the city I was met by flames first 
on one side and then on the other. I finally reached the ferry house and boarded 
a boat for Oakland. 

"I saw from 300 to 800 dead on the streets in one section. One hour after 
the earthquake the sailors and miners, who lived in the cheap lodging houses, 
were pillaging stores and residences and were robbing the dead and wounded on 
the streets." 

PEOPLE IN ATTITUDE OF PRAYER. 

The steamer Itauri, bound for Hamburg, Germany, took the first refugees 
by water from San Francisco to Los Angeles. 

"The Itauri left San Francisco Thursday afternoon when the flames seemed 
to be at their height," said First Mate Charles Appen. "As seen from the bay 
it was a sublime but terrible spectacle. We were anchored more than a mile out 
in the roadstead, but the wind as it swept over the burning city and down upon 
us was like the breath of a demon. 

"At times it was impossible for us to remain on deck. The water of the bay 
became heated. The terrific concussions of dynamite and the firing of artillery 
along the water front by the soldiery in their attempts to stop the flames brought 
hundreds of fish to the surface. 

"Our clearance papers were burned, but we could not retain our anchorage, 
and late Thursday afternoon we started toward the open sea. 

"Wharves along the water front which had not been consumed were filled 
with people. They beckoned to us that they needed assistance. We could see 
them holding up their hands in the attitude of prayer. It was the thought of self- 
preservation for us all that kept the Itauri's course unchanged. 



EARTHQUAKES 153 

"As we passed through the Golden Gate the hills on each side were moun- 
tains of flame. In some places the earth spots showed where the buildings 
already had been consumed, but these were few. 

"It was dusk when we passed out of the harbor. The waves, instead of 
scintillating with the rays of the setting sun, burned scarlet from the fires to the 
right and then to the left. 

"At midnight we were well out to sea ; I should say thirty miles, but the 
flames were still visible, and until almost the dawn of another day we stood on 
deck and watched the reflection of the flames as they played to and fro on the 
cloud mountains which hung as a pall over the ruined city." 

RICH MEN TELL OF RESCUE WORK. 

James D. Phelan, former mayor of San Francisco, one of the city's richest 
men and one of the heaviest losers, said : 

"When I was awakened in my house by the shock I made my way 
down town toward the fire, which was raging in two directions. One branch of 
the fire destroyed my office building on Market street and the other my home in 
the Mission. Of my personal effects I saved but few. My family left my home 
and proceeded to Golden Gate Park, when 1 followed and pitched two tents which 
I happened to have stored at my home. 

"Later I accompanied my family to Burlingame, twenty miles south, in an 
automobile, and returned to aid in the rescue work." 

Rudolph Spreckels said: "I volunteered as a special officer and assisted the 
firemen in trying to check the fire. My experience at Van Ness and Union 
streets was certainly a thrilling one." 

Herman Oelrichs said: "I was in the St. Francis Hotel, and lost all my 
personal effects except the suit of clothes that I had on and two flannel shirts. 
I did what I could everywhere to relieve the suffering." 

LIKE GROWLING OF WILD BEAST. 

"I was up at the time of the shock," said Pol Plancon, the singer, "and 
was looking out of my window to see what sort of a city it was. Suddenly 
everything seemed to swing. I felt like a bird in a swinging cage, and there 
seemed to come a strange growling sound like a wild beast in a cage and a 
rumbling noise. The place was swaying, and I thought that each sway would 
be the last. 

"I got downstairs in my underwear and overcoat, and afterward in the 
square I met Mme. Sembrich and Emma Eames. Every one was calm. The 
calmness of the American is wonderful. They are the coolest people in the 
world in the face of danger, and the women are as calm as the men. I never 
saw such wonderful grit and nerve in my life. Every one acted as if the 
whole thing was scheduled and they had been expecting it. No one lost his 
head for a moment. The Latin races are different. They are all excitement in 
sudden danger and go to pieces. My loss was about $40,000," 



154 EARTHQUAKES 

Mme. Sembrich told her experience thus: "I was wakened suddenly in 
my room at the St. Francis by the plaster and furniture falling on my bed. The 
piano was thrown clear across the room. I sprang out in my night clothes 
and rushed out in the hallway, where I found other guests running about. 
Some gentleman gallantly handed me an overcoat. 

"I got downstairs in my bare feet before I realized what I was doing. I 
then went back and got my clothes, dressed hurriedly and got out and went 
out into Union Square, where I met Pol Plancon of the company. He was in 
his shirt sleeves. The other members of the company joined us and the street 
began to fill with people. Herr Dippel helped get some of the effects out of 
the room and we went up on the big hill with Mme. Eames and Dr. Tevis, who 
kindly invited us to his house. But none of us would have dared to remain 
indoors for any amount of money. 

"We sat on the steps until the fire drove us away, and finally took refuge 
on the sand banks of the water company reservoirs. We made ourselves as 
comfortable as possible for the night. 

"We did not sleep, for that was impossible. What I have on now is all 
I saved. I did not even retain my toothbrush, and I have not been able to 
buy one since the fire. 

"One thing I noticed was the calmness of everybody. The rich and poor 
mingled on terms of equality. Each one tried to help the other. Dr. Tevis, 
in attending to our needs, neglected to save his own household goods. 

"I got ni}- trunks to Dr. Tevis', where I supposed they would be safe, but 
they were lost later. My loss altogether is about $4,000." 

MOTHER CARRYING DEAD CHILD. 

Mme. Gorlitz said : "We were roused like the rest by the falling of plas- 
ter and furniture at the Palace. We packed our effects hastily, with plaster 
falling about us. We paid a man $25 to get our trunks to the St. Francis, that 
went later, and we lost everything. We got into an old cart and were taken to 
a friend's house on Clay street, where fourteen persons were accommodated 
on mattresses. 

"We got an auto to get our goods out of the fire line. The police confis- 
cated it for ambulance purposes and we had to let it go. I did not dare to 
sleep in the house, but sat upon the steps all night. We lost everything we 
had. 

"I saw some terrible sights. I met a woman carrying a child, and she 
asked me if I would help her revive it. I saw at once the child was dead,"*Tor 
its skull was crushed in. I did not have the heart to tell the mother the facts. 
As we passed down to the ferryboat in an old cart we saw the bodies of the 
dead and wounded lying on the street and everything wrecked. All below the 
Palace Hotel everything was gone." 

Louise Homer, the singer, said she fled wearing a pair of her husband's 
trousers. 






c 

C/l 

c 

a 
E 

CO 




156 



EARTHQUAKES 



"We went up on the hill and a Mr. Pope, on Pacific avenue, took us into 
his house," she related. "We were afraid to go indoors and slept all night in 
his automobile, and were very comfortable. His cook gave me the only pair 
of shoes I had. While they were five or six sizes too large, I thank the cook 
for her kindness, and keep the shoes as a souvenir. The furniture danced all 
over the room and the wordrobe fell flat. Glass was scattered, and I thought 
the end of the world was comingr' 




NOB HILL ON CALIFORNIA STREET. 
Where the Homes of the Great California Millionaires Were. The View Shows the Crocker, Huntington 

and Flood Residences. 



CHAPTER XV. 
GENERAL PLAN OF RELIEF. 

All America Rushes Money and Food to San Francisco — Fifty Million Dollars Quickly 
Pledged — Government Saves Hundreds from Starvation — Theaters Give Big Benefits — 
One Man Donates $1,000,000 — Thousands of Refugees Cared for in Nearby Flaces — Red 
Cross Distributes Immense Amount — Europe Offers Help — Kings and Queens Send Con- 
dolences. 

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be 
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. — Matthew 24: 7. 

Within an hour from the time the fate of San Francisco became known 
to the world, relief measures were being taken in every state and almost every 
city in America. 

The response was magnificent, fifty million dollars being in sight before 
the fire had ceased, and assurances were given that more could be raised if it 
were necessary. 

Besides the money aid hundreds of trainloads of provisions and clothing 
were rushed forward, the government sending a score and almost every city 
of any size contributing from one to a half dozen. 

J. Pierpont Morgan, Jr., treasurer of the New York fund, forwarded 
$300,000 of the fund to a bank in San Francisco by telegraph. After collecting 
more than a half million dollars for the relief of the destitute earthquake vic- 
tims, the committee of the Chamber of Commerce decided that its fund should 
be devoted to reviving the commerce of San Francisco. 

Wholly foreign contributions, while deeply appreciated, were not ac- 
cepted, according to the precedent established by the president in declining a 
gift of $25,000 from a German steamship line. America, although touched by 
the evidences of foreign generosity, felt able to care for its own. 

Unaccounted thousands sent their contributions, and the grand total of 
the relief fund never will be known. The voiceless appeal of San Francisco 
was heard around the world. From every city and town in this country, from 
European capitals, and from far Eastern communities came news that all 
humanity in expressing its sympathy also offered every material assistance. 
Money and supplies flowed toward the stricken metropolis and the other cities 
by the Pacific affected by the recent disaster with a generosity unprecedented 
in history. 

ONE MAN GIVES $1,000,000. 

History is without a parallel in the prompt and generous response to the 
appeal for aid to the San Francisco sufferers. So great was the response that 
before the end of the third day more than $10,000,000 was in hand and $10,- 

157 



158 



EARTHQUAKES 



000,000 more pledged. Many lavish individual subscriptions were made, the 
largest being that of James D. Phelan, former mayor of the stricken city, who 
donated $1,000,000. Some of the early contributions of $5,000 and more were 
as follows : 



U. S. Government $2,500,000 

Chicago 2.000,000 

Xew York 2,500,000 

James D. Phelan 1,000,000 

Boston 500,000 

E. H. Harriman 200,000 

Philadelphia 200,000 

St. Louis 200,000 

Pittsburg 150,000 

Portland, Ore 130,000 

State of Massachusetts.... 100,000 

Canadian Government .... 100,000 

Standard Oil Company.... 100,000 

John D. Rockefeller 100,000 

Philadelphia (council) .... 100,000 

C. J. Burrage, Boston 100,000 

Sacramento, Cal , . . 100,000 

Texas Legislature 100,000 

Cleveland 100,000 

Baltimore 100,000 

Oakland, Cal 100,000 

Wm. Waldorf Astor 100,000 

Andrew Carnegie 100,000 

U. S. Steel Corporation. . . . 100,000 

Lewis & Clark Exposition 100,000 

Seattle, Wash 90,000 

Ladenburg, Thalman & Co 75,000 

Kansas City 75,ooo 

St. Paul 75,ooo 

United Railway Invest- 
ment Co., New York. . . . 75,000 

Cincinnati 73,000 

Guggenheim Bros., N. Y.. 50,000 

Milwaukee 40,000 

City of Mexico 30,000 

President Diaz of Mex. . . . 30,000 

Spokane, Wash 30,000 

New Haven, Conn 30,000 

Towns in Connecticut. . . . 30,000 

Minneapolis 30,000 



Columbus, Ohio, Board 

of Trade 20,000 

Grand Rapids, Mich 15,000 

Duluth 15,000 

New Britain, Conn.: 15,000 

Government of Mexico. . . . 15,000 
E. J. & E. Ry., L. S. & 

E. Ry., 111. Steel Co 15,000 

Goldfield, Nev 11,000 

Drexel & Co., Phila 10,000 

Superior, Wis 10,000 

Omaha 10,000 

Americans in London 10,000 

Reno, Nev 10,000 

Houston, Tex 10,000 

Salt Lake City 10,000 

Des Moines, Iowa 10,000 

Canadian Pacific Ry 10,000 

Indianapolis 10,000 

National Carpenters' 

Union 10,000 

H. C. Frick 10,000 

Gordon Blanding 10,000 

Brown Bros. N. Y 10,000 

Charles Sweeney, N. Y. . . . 10,000 
Heidelbach-Ickleheimer, 

New York 10,000 

Carpenters' Union, 

Chicago 10,000 

Importers and Manufac- 
turers' Millinery Co 8,790 

Jacksonville, Fla 7,000 

Chicago Daily News 6,000 

Ft. Worth, Texas 6,000 

Savannah, Ga 5, 500 

Richmond, Ind 5,000 

Worcester, Mass 5,ooo 

Nat'l Park Bank, N. Y 5,000 

Carnegie Hero Fund 5,000 

Clarence Mackay, N. Y 5,000 




u 



160 



EARTHQUAKES 



Detroit . . 

Victoria, B. C 

J. P. Morgan & Co 

B. P. Order of Elks 

\Y. K. Vanderbilt 

"A Friend of Humanity," 

New York 

Toronto 

Bank of Commerce, 

Toronto 

Kuhn, Loeb & Co 

Speyer & Co 

Los Angeles 

Providence, R. I 

Davenport, Iowa 

Stockton, Cal 

Columbus, Ohio 



26,500 Wisconsin Masons 5,000 

25,000 Charleston, S. C 5,000 

25,000 Burlington, Iowa 5,000 

55,000 Russell Sage 5,000 

25,000 Mrs. John W. Mackay.... 5,ooo 

Swift & Co., Chicago..... 5,000 

25,000 Armour & Co., Chicago... 5,000 

25,000 Montgomery Ward & Co., 

Chicago 5,000 

25,000 Lumbermen's Association, 

25,000 Chicago 5,000 

25,000 Sears, Roebuck & Co 5,000 

23,000 International Harvester Co. 5,000 

20,000 Chicago Brewers' Asso- 

20,000 ciation 5,000 

20,000 Marshall Field & Co 5,000 

20,000 Moline, 111., manufacturers. 5,000 



THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES TAKEN. 

The San Francisco authorities sent telegrams to the mayors of nearly every 
city of California on the second day, asking how many people they could care for. 
Berkeley at once took 4,000 refugees, Alameda 3,000, and both later cared for 
many thousands more. A committee was sent to the California powder works 
at Pinola, and other industrial companies, and secured the accommodation of 
5,000 people in their buildings. More than double this number were cared for at 
points along the bay north of Berkeley. Stanford, Fresno and Hanford took 
1,000 to 1,500 persons each. 

SEND CARLOAD OF BAKED BEANS. 

The first train from Chicago to reach San Francisco consisted of eleven cars, 
loaded as follows : Blankets, three cars ; quilts and comforters, three cars ; rice, 
one car ; baked beans, one car ; canned meats, two cars ; biscuits, one car. 

Before aid had come from outside the laws of the United States were vio- 
lated every minute. Supplies were purchased in the open market, government 
property was handed out without receipts to anybody who seemed to have author- 
ity to receive it, and the distribution of supplies was wholly free from the slightest 
suspicion of red tape. 

In spite of this fact, the president and Secretary Taft were proud of the fact 
that the army organization proved itself able to withstand the sudden strain put 
upon it, while the enlisted man showed his ability to act at a distance from his 
commissioned officer with an intelligence and an initiative which would be im- 
possible in the European armies. 

Major F. H. Keesling, of the First battalion of the coast artillery, N. G. C, 
was in command of the military relief measures in Golden Gate Park. His head- 



EARTHQUAKES 161 

quarters were established at the tennis courts. Supplies of, sugar, coffee, bread, 
and canned goods were distributed there, and at another point some prepared 
meats were given out. 

Army tents, as many as could be obtained, were set up everywhere, and other 
canvas protections were made of blankets, rugs, carpets, bed clothes, and every 
other sort of material that could be used for the purpose. 

In some places refugees had cleared out spaces beneath the thick shrubbery 
and the semi-tropical plants for which Golden Gate Park is famous, and under 
these found protection from the chilly night air. 

30,000 SHELTERED IN 4,000 TENTS, 

In the Presidio more than 30,000 people were sheltered in 4,000 tents fur- 
nished by the government, beginning with the third day. A constant stream of 
wagons and pedestrians entered and left the reservation. Vehicles of every 
description were utilized to carry household effects and provisions, and altogether 
generally satisfactory conditions prevailed. The commissary department cared 
amply for the people within the reservation and those persons who resided close 
by. Provisions were distributed with a liberal hand, flour, beans, canned- goods, 
eggs and milk having been given out in large quantities. This milk and eggs 
were served only to young mothers and infants and to families in which there 
were young children. 

In the western addition west of Van Ness avenue every precaution was taken 
to supply the immediate needs of the people. Water wagons went through the 
streets twice daily, serving water to those whose houses had been cut off from 
running water. Milk wagons peddled milk at 5 and 10 cents a quart, and meat 
was distributed free to the needy and sold at reasonable rates to those who couTd 
afford to pay. 

Secretary Leslie M. Shaw, of the treasury department, announced on the 
third day that he had lifted the $10,000,000 limit on telegraphic transfers to San 
Francisco. The treasury department, he wished it known, stood ready to offer 
any relief consistent with safety to the national banks of San Francisco and the 
stricken district generally. Any institution offering recognized collateral was 
given equivalent value in government deposits. Secretary Shaw also announced 
that he would recommend to congress without delay appropriations for a new 
subtreasury, postofhce and other federal buildings in San Francisco. 

HOW GOVERNMENT SAVED LIVES. 

William H. Taft, secretary of the war department, told Congress how the 
government saved hundreds from starvation. In an official letter he said : 

"All subsistence and quartermasters' supplies and all medical stores of every 
kind which were in the military depots in San Francisco were destroyed, except 
the local supplies for the troops stationed at the Presidio at San Francisco. Ac- 



162 EARTHQUAKES 

cordinglv all relief supplies had to be ordered from a distance. There were sent 
special express trains from every available and convenient point where there were 
stores, 900,000 rations, which means the rations for 900,000 soldiers for one day. 
The value of these rations is estimated by the commissary general to be $198,000. 
Two hundred thousand of these rations reached San Francisco Saturday morning 
in charge of commissary officers. 

'The quartermaster's department expressed by special train wall tents, coni- 
cal tents, hospital tents and storage tents for the shelter of 100,000 people; 
100,000 blankets, 7,500 mattresses, 11,500 bed sacks and 8,000 cots. 

"The quartermaster's supplies delivered in San Francisco amount in value 
to $1,031,734. The medical bureau of this department sent five car loads of med- 
ical supplies from St. Louis by express in charge of competent medical officers 
and hospital stewards. The estimated value of these medical supplies is $50,000. 

"The cost of the relief given at once by the army was $1,429,734. Besides 
this the government lost $3,448,863 in supplies in the depot at San Francisco." 

RAISED FUNDS IN EVERY STATE. 

Every state in the Union quickly responded to California's call for assistance 
in her hour of disaster and suffering. State and city officials acted with a spon- 
taniety never before known in soliciting contributions, business leaders every- 
where were equally alert, and officials and plain citizens gave freely. Within 
four days after the disaster, in the list of generous contributors, New York city 
ranked next to the government itself, and bade fair far to exceed the government 
in contributions. The New York fund then amounted to approximately $2,000,- 
000, with contributions coming in fast. 

Massachusetts, with Boston's aid, undertook to raise $3,000,000. Philadel- 
phia pledged $500,000, Chicago $1,000,000 or more. Pittsburg gave $100,- 
000; the commercial men of Cleveland, $100,000; St. Louis, $200,000; Sacra- 
mento, $100,000, and Seattle, $90,000. The finance committee of the council of 
Philadelphia appropriated $100,000 as the city's official gift. 

A score or more of cities contributed $100,000 and more, while hundreds of 
municipalities sent all their means would allow. 

THEATERS GIVE BIG BENEFITS. 

Throughout the country theatrical performances were given, the proceeds 
going to the relief fund. Two performances at the New York Hippodrome 
yielded $31,500. Mrs. Herman Oelrichs alone disposed of more than $6,000 
worth of tickets at a branch box office, and donated $5,000 herself. John W. 
Gates and Harry S. Black were admitted for $5,000 each. Miss Marie Dressier 
sold a lot of tickets on the sidewalk. 

James K. Hackett and Mary Mannering gave a special performance of "The 
Walls of Jericho" on Sunday at the Tremont Theater, Boston, the mayor of Bos- 
ton having granted Mr. Hackett a special license. A benefit performance of 







S T. j S(.PfTG>nz£Tr£h 



164 EARTHQUAKES 

"Peter Pan" in New York realized $3,407. Maude Adams, the star, contributed 
$1,000 of the total. 

The Milwaukee Brewers' Association subscribed $5,000 and the Milwaukee 
bankers the same amount. Every city and village of Wisconsin helped to swell 
Milwaukee's fund of $80,000. 

[Minneapolis contributions in three days reached $50,000, and the total 
eventually exceeded $100,000. Ten car loads of flour in one shipment consti- 
tuted an additional gift from Minneapolis. Every city, town and village in Min- 
nesota aided the San Francisco sufferers. The state relief committee appointed 
by Governor Johnson telegraphed every mayor in the state, appointing him and 
the cashiers of the local banks a committee to solicit subscriptions. It is thought 
that $100,000 can be raised in this manner. Gustave Scholle, of St. Paul, was 
elected chairman ; W. W. Heff elfinger, of Minneapolis, and Mayor Cullom, of 
Duluth, vice chairmen, and Kennedy Clark, of St. Paul, and E. W. Decker, of 
Minneapolis, treasurers of the committee. 

RED CROSS DISTRIBUTES MILLIONS. 

In order that there might be perfect accounting of the relief funds and per- 
fect organization in the distribution, the secretary of war, William H. Taft, in his 
capacity of president of the American National Red Cross, issued the following 
proclamation : 

"To the Public: 

"As president of the American National Red Cross I have appointed Dr. 
Edward Devine special agent of the Red Cross work to be done in San Fran- 
cisco. I am in receipt from Dr. Devine of a telegram in which he suggests that 
notice of all available relief funds and all shipments for relief, whether consigned 
to the Red Cross or not, be sent to him, addressed "Red Cross, San Francisco," 
that it is exceedingly important to centralize this information. I agree with Dr. 
Devine's suggestions and respectfully request those who are engaged in for- 
warding either relief funds or shipments for relief to notify Dr. Devine of the 
fact and the name of the consignee." 

ILLINOIS TOWNS QUICKLY RESPOND. 

Instantly the Red Cross forces of all the states were deluged with offers of 
assistance. The contributions from the Illinois towns came in quick response to 
a proclamation of Governor Deneen, who, under the provisions of the reorganized 
National Red Cross Society system, is the president of the Illinois branch. The 
manufacturers of Moline sent the largest sum from down the state— $5,000. 
Mayor Andrew Olson, in notifying Treasurer Smith of this contribution, con- 
cluded his letter with : "More to follow." A telegram from E. M. Burr, presi- 
dent of the chamber of commerce at Champaign, which announced that $700 had 
been mailed for the California relief fund, closed with the same words. 



EARTHQUAKES 165 

MANY TOWNS GIVE SMALLER SUMS. 

Other contributions were made by cities and towns as follows : 

London (American Fund) $10,000 Houghton, Mich 1,200 

Rock Island, 111 5,000 Winona, Minn 2,500 

Galesburg, 111 3,300 New Orleans, La 7, 500 

Kankakee, 111 1,200 Houston, Tex 7,300 

Jacksonville, 111 1,000 Galveston, Tex 3-5oo 

Champaign, 111 700 Canadian Shriners 25,000 

Dixon, 111 600 Col. Cody cabled 1,000 

South Bend, Ind 5,ooo Canadian Pacific Railroad 10,000 

Elkhart, Ind 2,250 Knights of Pythias 5, 000 

Racine, Wis 2,000 Atlas Assurance Co., London. . 5,000 

Cedar Rapids, la 5,ooo Piano, 111 350 

Iowa City, la 1,200 Cissna Park, 111 150 

Keokuk, la 1,000 Manteno, 111 100 

Food and other supplies as sent from various places were : 

Tacoma, W'ash. — Twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of supplies on order 
of the governor of Massachusetts and the mayor of Boston. Seventy thousand 
pounds of fresh beef. 

Philadelphia, Pa. — Relief train filled with medicine, liniments, bandages, 
water, food, clothing, tents, bedding, etc., contributed by local merchants. 

Oklahoma City, Okla.— Two carloads of flour. 

Vinton, la. — The Iowa Canning Company sent 24,000 cans of canned corn. 

The National Association of Retail Druggists issued a call on its members to 
raise $100,000 for the 200 druggists who lost their all in San Francisco. 

In Pontiac, 111., Mayor Lyon issued a proclamation calling on all citizens 
to contribute tow r ard the relief of the California sufferers. A finance commit- 
tee was appointed and collected a large sum. The city council donated $100. 

In Kankakee, 111., subscriptions to the amount of $1,300 were collected in 
one day by the relief committee. 

The city of Freeport, 111., through the mayor and council, the churches and 
every trades union in the city, the trades and labor council acted for them, held 
a meeting at which were represented the big factories, banks, stores and indi- 
viduals, and started a movement that resulted in several thousand dollars 
being sent to the California sufferers. 

In Toledo, Ohio, Mayor Brand Whitlock issued a proclamation setting 
aside a California day. The Salvation Army got out with its kettles and 
received contributions. Money collected on the Produce Exchange, donations 
from other sources and the kettle receipts reached $5,000 in three days. A 
car of provisions was also attached to the relief train from New York when 
it passed through that city. 



166 EARTHQUAKES 

WHOLE COUNTRY PROVES GENEROUS. 

In the raising of funds the lines of the geographer were obliterated; there 
was no east, no west, no north and no south. Even the thousands of Mexico 
were touched by the horror of quake and flames and contributed 30,000 pesos 
that the despair in the far west might give way to hope. 

When Boston girded to respond to the call there was held at Faneuil hall 
a meeting that will add more glory to the history of that famous old building. 
It was crowded when Bishop Mallalieu arose to address the people. And be- 
fore he finished he moved that the state of Massachusetts raise $3,000,000 for 
the quake and fire victims, and so enthusiastic were those gathered about him 
that it was done within a moment. 

Churches, societies, individuals everywhere swelled the golden flood. 
Every city in the north and almost every one in the south sent food and sup- 
plies by rail and water, and the railroads gave relief trains right of way over 
everything. 

Archbishop Farley of New York appealed to Catholics, Commander Eva 
Booth set the Salvation Army's stupendous machinery in motion, the Grand 
Army of the Republic collected a big fund, the Masons, Odd Fellows and 
Elks opened their purses as never before and diplomats of foreign nations 
contributed freely. Sir Chentung Liang-Cheng, the Chinese minister, called 
at the state department in Washington to express the sympathy of the Chinese 
government with the United States in its great sorrow. He made an offer of 
funds contributed by himself and a number of his friends for the relief. As 
this government was not accepting foreign gifts the Chinese minister decided 
to send the money direct to San Francisco for the relief of the Chinese who 
were injured in the earthquake and fire. 

Thousands of refugees flocked into Alameda, Cal., and were cared for in 
all parts of town, residents generously offering shelter and food to the refu- 
gees. The Alameda lodge of Elks had the co-operation to all the other frater- 
nal organizations of the city in an immense general relief committee. 

Three hundred and fifty of the distressed were fed and sheltered in tents 
in Alameda. An equal number was sent to private families by the relief com- 
mittee. The Masons threw open Masonic Temple, where many of the refu- 
gees were fed. 

EUROPE LENDS ITS HELP. 

Meantime Europe's sympathy was expressing itself in a substantial way. 
Ten thousand dollars was cabled to the Red Cross at Washington as the first 
installment of the American fund raised in London in aid of the suffering" 
people of San Francisco. In Paris, United States Ambassador McCormick 
presided at a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce, called to take 
action regarding the disaster. A number of prominent Americans, including 
Consul General Mason and Professor Albert H. Smyth of Philadelphia, who 
was designated by President Roosevelt to speak for the United States at the 
unveiling of the Franklin statue, were present, in addition to the members of 



168 EARTHQAUKES 

the chamber. A relief committee was appointed and a subscription started. 
The ambassador, in behalf of the meeting, forwarded a dispatch of sympathy 
to President Roosevelt. 

In Berlin, Percival H. Dodge, American charge, called a meeting of the 
Americans of that city at the embassy to take action in regard to assisting in 
the relief of the suffering San Franciscans. 

NEW ZEALAND OFFERS $25,000. 

Farther even than Europe the cry for the earthquake and fire victims 
went. From far oft" Christchurch, New Zealand, Premier Seddon cabled to 
President Roosevelt offering $25,000 to show New Zealand's practical sym- 
pathy. 

The sympathy of Mexico for the sufferers at San Francisco took tangible 
form. The government contributed 30,000 pesos for the victims. This amount 
was immediately transmitted to San Francisco. Many benefit performances 
were given to raise more money. 

Representative men of export and financial circles in Germany conferred 
about opening a public subscription to aid sufferers by the California earth- 
quake, but as there was information from New York that it was not expected 
that relief committees would be organized in Europe, as American efforts will 
be ample for the present need, the movement was dropped. 

Messages of sympathy came from all the kings and queens of the old 
world. The crown Prince Gustavus, as regent, cabled to President Roosevelt 
expressing the deep sympathy of Sweden with the United States in the Cali- 
fornia calamity. Emperor William of Germany did likewise. All these mes- 
sages elicited official responses and the tragedy of the California coast thus 
helped to cement in closer bonds the nations of the earth. 

MAIL COMMUNICATION QUICKLY RESTORED. 

All this time the American authorities were using every possible means to 
help California. Realizing the anxiety that would be felt in cities outside San 
Francisco for the fate of those within the devastated zone the United States 
postal authorities beiH every effort to resume mail communication with the out- 
side world. The main postoffice, by a seeming miracle, escaped great damage, 
and on the Saturday following the awful earthquake resumption of service was 
established. All but fifty bags of mail that went through the fire were recovered. 

Branch offices were established throughout the city and at the various refu- 
gee camps, and money orders cashed without delay. The supply of postage 
stamps was quickly exhausted and letters were accepted without postage and sent 
to their destination without delay. 

NEWSPAPERS LOSE NO TIME. 

All the daily newspaper offices were burned out, but the dauntless spirit of 
the editors, publishers and others connected with journalism could not be broken. 



EARTHQUAKES 



169 



Amid the flood of flame and quivering earth the proprietors at once went to work 
to tell the people, as far as possible, the extent of the disaster and to buoy them 
up with the hope of a greater and grander San Francisco. 

For a time it seemed as though the Examiner plant might be saved and 
papers printed from that office. This idea was soon dispelled by the relentless 
march of the flames which made it patent that the destruction of that magnificent 
structure was inevitable. 

Then arrangements were made to publish at Oakland, across the bay. The 
comparatively meager facilities of the Oakland Tribune were unreservedly placed 
at the disposal of the San Francisco editors and on Thursday morning, the day 
after the fire, a small combination sheet appeared, bearing the unique heading, 
"Call-Chronicle-Examiner." 

It gave a brief account of the great disaster and took an optimistic view of 
the future of the stricken city. The next day the papers appeared under their 
own headings and with a few illustrations, showing scenes in the streets of San 
Francisco. 

In the meantime orders had been rushed to makers of printing presses and 
other machinery and within an incredibly short period of time normal publication 
was resumed as though the fire had never occurred. 




THE HOTEL VENDOME AND ANNEX. 
A Noted All-the-Yeai -Round Resort at Sin Jose, Which Collapsed Dur 
Killed Many Guests. 



lg the Earthquake and 



CHAPTER XVI. 
SCIENTISTS STAND AGHAST. 

Professor John Milne Has Startling Theory — May Be Caused by Earth Swerving Back Upon 
Axis — Vibrations Proved — Wobbling at Pole — Sun Spots Blamed by Some — Vesuvius 
May Be Eesponsible — 140,000 Earthquakes Eecorded — Science Gives No Warning — 
Major Dutton Describes Phenomena — Appalling Eoar Accompanies Shocks — Source 
Twenty Miles Below — How the Seismograph Does Its Work — Awful Power of Vibra- 
tions. 

And behold the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and 
the earth did quake and the rocks rent. — Matthew 27: 51. 

A new and startling theory as to the cause of earthquake has been deduced 
by Professor John Milne, the eminent English scientist and authority on all that 
pertains to earthquake and volcanic disturbances. 

Professor Milne holds that earthquakes may not be caused by the adjustment 
of the surface of the earth to meet a gradual reduction of size, but may be caused 
by a jar as the earth swings back to get into true position upon its axis. This 
scientist said it has been demonstrated that the earth does not swing true and that, 
in getting back, a tremendous strain upon the earth's crust results. 

The seismographs of Europe recorded the earthquake at San Francisco and 
showed that the movements were violent. The instruments used by Professor 
Milne, who is the inventor of instruments to record vibrations of the earth, regis- 
tered the movement at about i 130 p. m., Greenwich time. 

The marks on one of his smoke cylinders at Shide Hill house, Isle of Wight, 
were so long and pronounced that the severity of the disturbance and its approxi- 
mate location immediately were apparent. 

When questioned as to the probable cause of the earth movement, Mr. 
Milne said this inquiry ought to be addressed to astronomers, because it was be- 
lieved that earthquakes are caused largely by the earth failing to swing perfectly 
true on its axis. 

Mr. Milne added that it was impossible to say whether there was any con- 
nection between the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the earthquake at San 
Francisco. It is conceivable that there was some connection, but opinion either 
way is merely speculative. 

VARIATIONS IN EARTH PROVED. 

Professor J. A. Bradhere, of Allegheny, Pa., one of the best known astrono- 
mers in America, said, when asked regarding Professor Milne's theory : 

"That is a novel theory. I have never heard it advanced before and it is 
contrary to the accepted beliefs. It is true that the earth does not swing per- 
fectly true upon its axis. 

"Professor Doolittle, of Philadelphia, has demonstrated this more accurately 

170 



6 







172 EARTHQUAKES 

than possibly any other man. He has proved a variation of fifty feet at the pole 
as a result of innumerable calculations by hundreds of scientists. 

"For a long time this variation caused what were supposed to be errors in 
scientific calculations, but as all the errors were on the same side and in like pro- 
portion the variation was discovered. 

"I do not believe, however, that this wobbling at the pole, as it may be 
called, is ever corrected by a sudden shock of the earth getting back into posi- 
tion, as is suggested by Professor Milne. 

"The earth inclines slightly upon its axis, but it is the scientific belief that 
no change in the earth's motion can be produced excepting by outside influence. 
If there should be such an influence as to make the earth change its axis there 
might be an earthquake. The theory put forward is a novel one, however, and 
deserves careful study. 

"It will take much, however, to change the general belief, but there are so 
many things we do not know about the earth. For instance, I do not know 
whether the interior of the earth is a molten mass or not. 

"The pressure at the center is enough to make anything molten, representing 
the weight of a column of mercury 1.700 miles high, but the fact has not been 
proven that the interior of the earth is not solid." 

EARTH DECLARED GROWING SMALLER. 

Sir Hiram Maxim, the noted British inventor and scientist, declared the 
world was growing smaller. 

"The earth," said he in an interview published in a London paper, "is con- 
stantly losing its heat, and growing colder and smaller. Ever since the solid 
crust of the earth has been formed there have been certain lines of least strength, 
and as the earth shrinks the solid crust yields in these weakest spots. It will 
now be found that California is not so large as it was before the earthquake, but 
the difference will not be great." 

Sunspots, that have been so numerous for the past year as to cause the 
closest study on the part of scientists, were blamed for the recent earthquakes 
throughout the world, as well as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, by the Rev. 
Fred Hillig, astronomer and scientist of St. John's College, at Toledo, Ohio. 

Father Hillig predicted that a great ocean wave would come in from the 
Pacific ocean and do incalculable damage to the towns along the coast. 

"An earthquake," said Father Hillig, "begins at some point deep in the 
bowels of the earth and is caused by the mysterious influence, electrical or other- 
wise, of the sunspots. 

"The vibrations radiate from that center. These earth waves may reach the 
surface of the earth at different places at different times, owing to difference of 
distance from the center of disturbance. 

"This earthquake may have originated at the same point in the interior of 
the earth in which the Formosa earthquake and the eruption of Vesuvius took 
their beginning." 



EARTHQUAKES 173 

PROFESSOR NEWCOMB GIVES HIS VIEWS. 

Professor Simon Newcomb, of the United States Geological Survey, declined 
to commit himself, saying : 

"Earthquakes are due to a shifting of the earth's strata, but what causes that 
shifting is not positively known. 

"I can conceive that a shifting of the earth's axis, even to the slightest de- 
gree, would impose a great strain upon some parts of the earth's crust and this 
might explain earthquakes, although the general theory is that the shifting is 
due to the gradual lessening of the earth's surface." 

Professor Newcomb is known to scientists through his work in ascertaining 
the weight of the earth. 

Some of his friends declare that he has a new plan under way to obtain a 
more accurate result than has heretofore been achieved, but he refused to talk 
about his plan and says the calculations are so intricate that he cannot discuss 
them. 

He says that the work of weighing the earth is done by means of a ball of 
lead in a glass case, and his friends hint that his new plan comprises the use of 
a tremendous pendulum about a quarter of a mile long. 

EASTERN PROFESSOR CALLS IT GUESS. 

Professor James F. Kemp, of Columbia University, regarded Professor 
Milne's suggestion as an elaboration on the theory that earthquakes are caused by 
a readjustment of the earth's crust, due to a slowing up of rotation of the earth 
and a flattening of the poles. 

"As a matter of fact," said Professor Kemp, "scientists are all guessing upon 
the subject. All they really know is that the earth's crust readjusts itself at 
times, but no one has as yet proved the exact cause of these changes." 

Dr. G. F. Becker, of the United States survey, strongly opposed those theo- 
rists who ascribe the eruption of Mount Vesuvius as the cause for the San 
Francisco disaster. Dr. Becker said the entire coast of California is unstable 
and that immense stretches of shoal water are suddenly transformed into fathom- 
less depths, and when these changes take place deep down in the earth's strata 
it is necessary for the surface to readjust itself. 

Professor Brown, of the geological department of the University of Penn- 
sylvania, was not inclined to agree with those scientists who believe the recent 
activity of Mount Tacoma was to blame for the disaster. He believed that the 
activity of that mountain would have caused trouble farther north, if any- 
where, and that a city as far away as San Francisco would not have been 
affected. 

CALIFORNIA SCIENTIST DESCRIBES QUAKE. 

In describing the earthquake from a scientific point of view, A. V. Teusch- 
ner, director of the students' observatory of the University of California at 
Berkeley, said : 



174 EARTHQUAKES 

"The principal part of the earthquake came in two sections, the first series 
of vibrations lasting for about forty seconds. 

"The vibrations diminished gradually during the following ten seconds, and 
then occurred with renewed vigor for about twenty-five seconds more. 

'The motion was from south-southeast to north-northwest. The remarkable 
feature of this earthquake, aside from its intensity, was its rotary motion. 

"As seen from the print, the sum total of all displacements represents a very 
regular ellipse and some of the lines representing the earth's motion can be traced 
along the whole circumference. 

"The three severest earthquakes on record in this vicinity are those of Oct. 
21, 1868; March 30, 1898, and that of April 18, 1906. The result of observa- 
tion indicates that our heaviest shocks are in the direction of south-south- 
east to north-northwest. 

"In that respect the records of the three heaviest earthquakes agree entirely. 
But they have several other features in common. 

"One of these is that while the displacements are very large the vibration 
period is comparatively slow, amounting to about one second in the last two big 
earthquakes." 

THINKS VESUVIUS MAY BE CAUSE. 

E. W. Maunder, superintendent of the Greenwich observatory, believed that 
the earthquake in all probability was a direct consequence of the activity of 
Mount Vesuvius, whose eruption doubtless started a severe wave movement 
through the crust of the earth. He held, however, that there is no sufficient rea- 
son to connect these catastrophes with displays of solar activity, and com- 
mented on the comparative rarity of earthquakes in the United States. 

Dr. Davison, of Birmingham, another seismic expert, obtained valuable rec- 
ords, but could suggest no connection between the Vesuvius and San Francisco 
disasters. 

Records in all countries dealing with earthquakes have catalogued a total of 
140,000 of the phenomena. Within the last ten years the science of seismography 
has taken a wonderful advance until there is scarcely a civilized government 
under the sun which is not setting its instruments for the recording of the time 
and movement and force of the earthquake — after the quake shall have come and 
gone. 

But so far as any possible anticipating of the phenomenon or any possible 
approximating its force in any manner, the scientist is completely in the dark. 
It is one of the challenging facts that of all the great convulsions of nature which 
have wrought such monstrous ruin to the world virtually none has been fore- 
told by any one having the least character in the scientific world. 

Even where some of the disturbances of the earth's crust have been foretold 
the absence of the prophet's measurements of the force and ruin of them has 
discounted and discredited his efforts. 

SCIENCE GIVES NO WARNING. 

In a period of eighty years of reasonably accurate observation, San Fran- 





y ; 



176 EARTHQUAKES 

cisco alone has had 417 earthquakes, 200 of which have been described with 
sufficient clearness to become a part of the records of the Lick observatory in 
California. 

These 417 shocks, of which 200 have been classed in virulence, occurred in 
a period of 960 months, giving a period of only a little more than two months 
between each convulsion. In the state as a whole the eighty-year period has 
given evidence of 956 shocks, observed at 214 stations throughout the state. 

Yet, with a string of experiment and observatory stations all around the 
world, and with the electric wire and submarine cables winged by the lightning, 
San Francisco went down to ruin not only with no warning whatever of the 
impending calamity, but with a thousand scientists wrangling over the question 
of what an earthquake is and what is its source of evolution. 

Perhaps Dutton, in the United States, is to be quoted as authoritatively as 
is any one else on this hopelessness of determining the approach of the earth- 
quake and of fixing upon its source of ruin. 

He says with distinction that there is no intelligent source of warning to 
be counted upon ; that at least three possible causes of these convulsions of the 
earth may be regarded with credence, but that so far as the "signs" of whatever 
nature have been canvassed, they have been rendered utterly worthless, for the 
reason that they have failed far more often than they have materialized. 

WHEN GREAT EARTHQUAKE COMES. 

"Anything which calls into sudden activity the elasticity of the earth mass 
causes an earthquake," is his ultimatum. "And by the word 'sudden' are meant 
seconds, not minutes or hours." 

In his work on the earthquake Major Dutton gives to the lay mind a picture 
of the catastrophe which makes the technical analysis of the phenomenon a slow 
subject, having little more light than has the origin of electricity to the mind of 
the electrical engineer who is harnessing that force to almost every end of man's 
necessities. 

"When the great earthquake comes, it comes suddenly and is as quickly 
gone. Its duration is generally a matter of seconds, though instances have been 
noted in which it lasted from»three to four minutes. Perhaps forty-five seconds 
would be a fair average. 

"The first sensation is a confused murmuring sound of a strange and even 
weird character. Almost simultaneously loose objects begin to tremble and 
chatter. 

"Sometimes almost in an instant, sometimes more gradually, the sound be- 
comes a roar, the chattering becomes a crashing. The rapid quivering grows 
into a rude, violent shaking of increasing amplitude. 

"Everything beneath seems beaten with rapid blows of measureless power. 
Loose objects begin to fly about; those lightly hung break from their fastenings. 
The shaking increases in violence. 

"The floors begin to heave and rock about on the waves. The plastering 



EARTHQUAKES 177 

falls, the walls crack, the chimneys go crashing down, everything moves, heaves, 
tosses. Huge waves seem to rush under the foundations with the swiftness of 
a gale. 

IMPOSSIBLE TO WITHSTAND. 

"The swing now becomes longer and more powerful. The walls crack and 
open. A lurch throws out the front wall into the street, or tears off or shakes 
down in rubble the whole corner of the building. 

"Then comes a longer, swaying motion, not like a ship at sea, but more 
rapid; not alone from side to side, but forward and backward as well, and both 
motions combine into a wriggle which it seems impossible for anything to with- 
stand. 

"It is the compound, figure 8 motion which is so destructive, rending 
asunder the strongest structures as if they were adobe. It is the culmination of 
the earthquake. It settles into a regular swing of decreasing amplitude ; suddenly 
these abate, and the motions cease. 

"Or suppose we are out in the country and the earthquake suddenly comes 
upon us. 

"The first sensation is the sound. It is unlike anything we ever have heard, 
unless we already have had a similar experience. It is a strange murmur. 

"Some liken it to the wind sighing in the pine trees, or to falling rain; others 
to the distant roar of the surf ; others to the faroff rumble of the railway train ; 
others to distant thunder. 

"It grows louder. The earth begins to quiver, then to shake rudely. Soon 
the ground begins to heave. 

"Then the ground is actually seen to be traversed by the visible waves, like 
waves at sea, but of less height and moving much more swiftly. The sound 
becomes a roar. It is difficult to stand, and at length it becomes impossible 
to do so. 

LIKE VOICE OF THE ETERNAL ONE, 

"The victim flings himself to the ground to avoid being dashed to it, or he 
clings to a convenient sapling or fence post to avoid being overthrown. 

"The trees are seen to sway, sometimes through large arcs, and they are said, 
doubtless with exaggeration, to touch the ground with their branches, first on 
one side and then on the other. 

"As the waves rush past the ground on the crests opens in cracks which 
close together again in the troughs. As the troughs close the compressed air 
blows out sand and gravel and sometimes sand and water are spurted high in air. 

"The roar becomes appalling. Through its din are heard loud, deep, solemn 
booms that seem like the voice of the Eternal One, speaking out of the depths of 
the universe. Suddenly this storm subsides, the earth speedily comes to rest, 
and all is over." 

This is the unheralded great earthquake which every little while breaks 
through the cooled crust of the earth's surface — sometimes in the mountain wastes 
where the archaeologist of another generation discovers its havoc — sometimes in 



178 EARTHQUAKES 

the heart of densely populated districts of civilization or of barbarism, there to 
spread death and desolation such as scarcely was pictured in the steel-ribbed, 
sulphurous theology of fifty years ago. 

But come when it will and how it will, it is as unescapable as fate. If the 
observatory station shall be left standing the scientist will be able to read some 
measure of the convulsion's duration and direction and .its up and down and 
creeping movements, traced upon sheets of smoked glass. 

SOURCE TWENTY MILES BELOW. 

So far as the scientist at the seismograph station has gone with his observa- 
tion, he still has much left for the exercise of his imagination and his application 
of the known laws of physics. 

Wherever the great earthquake has shown its destructiveness, the scientist 
searches out its centrum, which is the approximate internal seat of the eruption, 
and he seeks to map on the surface the epicentrum, the spot at which the greatest 
tremor is manifest and from which in all directions the forces of the phenomenon 
diminish into stillness. 

Here, however, the seismologist finds himself embarrassed and occasionally 
lost in his philosophy. One earthquake of a certain amplitude may echo half 
round the world before the seismographs in a hundred stations are done with its 
diminishing records. 

Another quake may outdo it in a populous epicentrum and the seismograph 
that is hardly a score of miles away may stand without a scratch to mar the blur 
of smoke on a single blank record that may have been in waiting for months. 

This much the seismologists are agreed upon — that the source of the erup- 
tion, wherever it may be, is scarcely to exceed twenty miles below the swaying 
crusts of the land or the churned surface of the ocean. 

RECORD OF SEISMOGRAPH. 

Ftom the confessional of the seismographer, the seismograph is not more 
than a makeshift sort of instrument, which works along the lines of the com- 
mon clock to the best of its makeshift mechanism. 

The clock pendulum has been utilized in the Milne machine, which is 
representative. Whether on plates of smoked glass or on a ribbon of paper 
feeding through the seismograph, the man in charge of the station may read 
— after the convulsion — each of the three motions which disturb the earth's 
crust at that point, while the time will be given with considerably more ac- 
curacy than formerly was furnished by the stopped clock itself. 

The ordinary clock stops on the occasion of a heavy shock of earthquake. 
The time of the clock after the shock once stood for the time of the catas- 
trophe's breaking. But it was discovered that just as long as the swaying mo- 
tions of the earth continued the pendulum clock continued to run; or that 
when the sudden sharp upheavals might stop it, the rolling side movements 
might start it again and leave it running. 



180 EARTHQUAKES 

Outside of the tremendous forces of the earthquake, however, the seismo- 
graph now gives its best results in keeping a line on the after influences of 
the phenomenon. 

Thus it has been settled that some of the greatest of these upheavals of 
nature have sent out wavelike sensations through earth matter of mixed for- 
mations at the average rate of three miles a second, sometimes for thousands 
of miles. 

Yet some of these vibrations away from the epicentrum of the quake have 
been sufficient to make the ninety-pound steel rails of the modern standard 
railroad appear tortuous beyond the possibility of running a two wheel cart 
over them. 

FIGURES APPEAR UNMEANING. 

Approximations of the force of some of these great convulsions of the 
earth make figures appear unmeaning. 

In the Japanese horror of 1887 the records of observers showed that 
30,000 square miles of land was shaken. 

The average depth of the convulsion was figured at one mile, and averag- 
ing the weight of the shaken earth at 150 pounds to the cubic foot, it was esti- 
mated that the power to shake only one cubic mile of earth was 2,500,000,000 
foot pounds. To shake 30,000 square miles to the depth of 5.280 feet ! 

The same authority, taking the records of the Charleston (S. C.) disaster, 
points to the fact that an area of 100 miles square was affected at the rate of 
three miles a second in every direction from the epicentrum. 

To shake one of these square miles to a depth of a mile and at the rate of 
one-third of a second required 130,000,000 horse power, while for the 10,000 
square miles affected to that depth represented one trillion three hundred bil- 
lion horse power ! 

All of this virtually has left beyond consideration the causes of the tre- 
mendous upheavals in almost every part of the world. There are at least 
three causes that have been exploited with some degree of scientific credence. 

One is the accepted fact that a surface down throw compressing the mol- 
ten liquid mass under the crust of the earth sets the mass into elastic motion 
that is farthest reaching of the influences, as in the Japanese earthquake in 
1891. 

SOME ATTEMPTED EXPLANATIONS. 

Another of the accepted causes by many seismographers is that the vol- 
canic influences, setting this inner molten mass in motion, produce the quake. 

Some of the proofs of this have been advanced by Humboldt, who showed 
that the active volcano was the safety valve for its immediate neighborhood, 
as evidenced in so many portions of the Andes ranges. 

There the testimony of the natives has shown that an earthquake may be 
lightest at the cone and heaviest many miles away. 

Another of the seriously questioned explanations is that through some 



EARTHQUAKES 181 

displacement of the molten masses'of the inner earth, the moon — which exerts 
its tremendous influence on the ocean tides — combines with the sun in a pull- 
ing strain that suddenly puts the elastic contents of the earth's crust into vio- 
lent movement. Milne has accepted this explanation in part. 

Dutton has shown that most earthquakes in Japan are independent of vol- 
canoes and originate in the bed of the Pacific. 

In the same way the Philippines are subjected to earthquakes having their 
rise in the Pacific. Further, that in periods of ten to fifteen years the Philip- 
pine group of islands may expect recurrences of the phenomena. 

The California quakes, it is agreed, almost invariably have had their 
origin in the probable down throw of the earth's crust, due to faults in the 
crust itself. 

SUPERSTITION IS GIVEN FULL SWING. 

The awful ruin wrought on the Pacific coast, following the terrific 
eruption of Mount Vesuvius, earthquakes in Japan and Formosa, together 
with wars and pestilence of recent years caused great alarm among those 
inclined to be superstitious. The prediction of Mme. Thebes, the French 
seeress, who at the beginning of the year predicted a great convulsion of 
nature in the United States, was recalled with awe. 

Professor Totten, formerly of Yale, who prophesied on January i that 
the eleventh hour summons had sounded and that the end of the world was 
approaching, said in reference to the San Francisco earthquake : 

"I have voiced the disaster from the solid standpoint of prophecy, in- 
terpreted and proved since 1880. 

"What I look for next is a comet, a portent of the greater disasters. 
The whole universe is wound up for disaster. There isn't a cycle that 
doesn't move toward Zero. Look at the conditions of cities and banks and 
insurance companies; deviltry is piling up for the great crash." 

FIRE UNDERWRITERS FORESAW DISASTER. 

The fire which followed the earthquake and its enormous dam- 
age was not unexpected by those familiar with the subject, that is to say, 
the fire underwriters. The day after the disaster it became known that 
the committee of experts on fire hazards in the employ of the National Board 
of Fire Underwriters made a remarkable prediction a year ago regarding 
San Francisco. The committee which is to make reports on all of the im- 
portant cities of the country passed much time in San Francisco, and its 
report on that city, which was finished about a year ago, summarized the 
situation. 

After pointing out many topographical disadvantages, the report said : 

"In fact, San Francisco has violated all underwriting traditions and 

precedent by not burning up. That it has not done so is largely due to the 

vigilance of the fire department, which cannot be relied upon indefinitely to 

stave off the inevitable." 



182 EARTHQUAKES 

VIEWS OF CHICAGO GEOLOGISTS. 

Prominent Chicago geologists in discussing the probable cause of the 
earthquake in the main held to the belief that the catastrophe was due to 
the growth of the Sierra Madre mountains. 

"The slipping of the rocks, perhaps only a fraction of an inch, not 
more than three or four, is probably the cause of the San Francisco catas- 
trophe," said Henry Windsor Nichols, assistant curator of the Field Co- 
lumbian museum. "The Sierra Madre mountains, geologically speaking, 
are young and are still slowly growing. The faulting of the rocks is going 
on too rapidly, causing a fracture. All along the mountain range there is 
a line of weakness, and from the meager data at our disposal I think the 
earthquake due to such a slipping. When we get the results from the 
various seismographs we can form definite conclusions. 

LIKENED TO DISASTER AT CHARLESTON. 

"I think perhaps the conditions in California are similar to those of 
the great Charleston earthquake, and do not believe this shock holds any 
relation to the eruptions of Vesuvius. There is no reason why the shock 
should come to San Francisco rather than any other place along the coast." 

Dr. J. Paul Goode. assistant professor of geography at the University 
of Chicago, said: "The earthquake was probably due to a slipping of the 
ocean or its crust. The Sierra Madre mountains are young and slowly 
growing, and this is a symptom of their rising." 

NOT CONNECTED WITH VESUVIUS. 

Professor U. S. Grant, head of the geological department at North- 
western university, held to the opinion that the earthquake which shook the 
western coast was in no way connected with the eruptions which have 
occurred recently at Mount Vesuvius. He ascribed the seismic disturb- 
ances to the reformation of the earth which is constantly going on under 
the earth's crust in that locality, and cited instances of slight earthquakes 
which have occurred in that vicinity during the last three months at the 
rate of two to three a month. 

"California and the coast states are the most noted places in the world 
for these earthquakes," said the professor. "According to the data of the 
Lick observatory, two or three shocks are felt each month. This one seemed 
to be far greater in extent and severity than any previous one." 

WIDE VOLCANIC BELT. 

Professor Joseph Kathan, who was present with the noted Italian, 
Professor Palmieri, at the eruption of Vesuvius in 1881-2, when Palmieri 
invented the seismograph, an instrument recording the time and the force 
of the shock, differs with Professor Grant, saying: 



184 



EARTHQUAKES 



"California lies in what is known as the volcanic belt, which runs entirely 
around the world, including Vesuvius and Aetna in Italy, Formosa in Japan, 
and the western coast of the United States in its course. The entire belt 
is affected when such violent internal disturbances take place, such as 
those at Vesuvius. 

"Martinique, which is well known as a center of volcanic action, is the 
beginning of this line, which includes the Canary islands, portions of Spain, 
and a large part of Italy in its path. The Aetna and Mount Vesuvius in 
Italy are both in the direct path. Southern Russia is touched, then the 
Island of Japan, particularly Formosa, comes, the line going from Formosa, 
where eruptions and earthquakes were felt but a few days ago, to the west- 
ern coast of the United States. It was in the regular course of the volcanic 
belt that California was reached." 







•:*>%:,>? ; . 




THE DEFENSES OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

This is the "Parapet," Overlooking the Pacific Ocean Near the Cliff House. Here are Mounted Part of the 

Big Artillery Guns that Defend the City. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
LOOKED FOR END OF WORLD. 

Many Sects and Superstitious People Generally Foresaw Doom of Globe in California Crash 
— "Flying Rollers" Greeted Tidings With Brass Band — Alarmists Became Busy — Pre- 
pare for Death — Lake Superior Region Agitated and Adds to the General Fear. 

And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fear- 
ful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. — Luke 21: 11. 

As is the case on the occasion of every great disaster, there were thou- 
sands of persons — men and women who are religious enthusiasts — who 
claimed to see in the destruction of San Francisco the beginning of the end 
of the world. 

Since time began predictions that the end of the world was at hand have 
followed thick and fast on the heels of each and every disaster, and in the 
present case the claim was made in almost every city in the United States that 
the entire country would be plunged into chaos curing the week. 

FLYING ROLLERS CLAIM HONOR. 

The Flying Rollers of the House of David, a sect of 500 people who reside 
•n Benton Harbor, Mich., greeted the news of the San Francisco disaster with 
a band of music. 

The "Rollers" have been predicting such a visitation upon the people of 
San Francisco and they claimed that this great disaster would be followed 
by many more of its kind. 

They point with pride to their missionary, Mary McDermitt, who, they 
asserted, stood up among the people of San Francisco a few days before the 
awful earthquake and called down judgment upon them, and told them that 
they would be visited by fire and earthquake shortly, and that the disaster 
should be one of the greatest in history. 

The "Rollers"' claim they have biblical proofs that the world is to come 
to an end in 1916, the intervening years to be filled with many disasters 
which will overshadow the present one. 

They claim that the wrath of God will descend and that it will be 
visited by every manner of horror. They believe that 144,000 people who 
accept their faith will be saved, and that all the rest will perish. 

SCRIPTURE QUOTED AS PROOF. 

"Prince" Benjamin, the leader of the sect, said that the disaster at San 
Francisco was only the beginning. 

He claimed that it was called down by Mary McDermitt, and claimed 
that their prophets are given scriptural permission to call down the wrath 
against the doomed city, and quoted Luke x, 10 and 1 1 : 



186 EARTHQUAKES 

"But into whatever city ye enter and they receive you not, go your 
way out into the streets of the same and say even the very dust of your 
city which cleaveth on us we do wipe off against you ; notwithstanding, be 
ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." 

"Missionaries of the various sects whose members believe that the end 
is near set out at once, as soon as the news of the great disaster became 
known, and made a house-to-house canvass in nearly every city from New 
York to Portland, and from New Orleans to the Canadian line, calling on 
the people to prepare for the destruction of the world. 

ALARMIST INVADES RELIEF MEETING. 

"Prepare for death," shouted one missionary, as he entered a hall in 
Boston, where a relief meeting was in progress. 

"Judgment day is at hand. God is showing his wrath, and the world 
shall be wiped away. This is the beginning. Prepare for the end. Put on 
your robes, give away your property and await the trumpet call, which will 
sound soon !" 

For a week or more these alarmists traveled up and down the United 
States, appealing particularly to women. 

For a day or two the alarm was great, especially in some of the rural 
sections, but it gradually faded away and died the death that all similar 
alarms have died. 

The Adventists, who are always ready for the end, held large meetings 
in all sections of the country, at which their best and most forceful speakers 
dwelt at length on this last sign of the coming destruction of the world. 

As a rule, however, the people of the country, familiar with "scare talk" 
after everv disaster, paid but little attention to the alarmists, and inside of 
a week the country resumed its ordinary quiet, except for the relief meas- 
ures intended to relieve the distress of the 'Frisco sufferers. 

In several sections of Europe, however, the idea that the San Francisco 
disaster presaged the end of the world gained widespread belief, and in 
some of the smaller Russian towns the people became mad with terror. 

In one village the entire population, led by an aged woman dressed in 
white robes, refused to eat, and with prayer awaited the coming of the 
Angel Gabriel. Farm work was neglected, domestic animals allowed to 
starve, and none of the ordinary business of daily life transacted. 

This condition of affairs lasted for so long a time that the government 
was finally forced to send a company of soldiers into the village to restore 
order. 

DISTURBANCES IN OTHER PLACES. 

Violent volcanic disturbances in the United States followed the erup- 
tion of Mount Vesuvius and preceded the devastating earthquake of San 
Francisco. 



188 ' EARTHQUAKES 

April 8 smoke began to issue from the crater of Mount Rainier, called 
also Mount Tacoma, in the State of Washington. Flames poured out of 
the mountain the following day ; then came great volumes of incandescent 
cinders and a dense rain of ashes. The mountain shook with internal ex- 
plosions, whose deafening roar was heard miles away. 

There were few residents near the mountain, but those who did dwell 
in the camps of coal prospectors and ranchmen were wildly agitated with 
the fear of being buried alive by the fearful rain of ashes. They hurried 
away from the mountain as fast as possible and did not return till the erup- 
tion ceased. 

One of the prospectors, Jack Campbell, wrote a friend as follows about 
the eruption : 

"Rainier began to smoke Monday evening. On Tuesday it was worse." 
Wednesday ashes and red-hot mud fell into camp. Rumblings were heard, 
and I had to move. Thursday sulphurous smoke hung over the crater. The 
indications are that Rainier is an active volcano. The rumblings are grow- 
ing more noticeable and are felt ten miles from the base." 

RESIDENTS SEE THE SMOKE. 

Although the mountain is more than ninety miles from the city of 
North Yakima, Wash., ,the dense cloud of smoke from the crater could be 
plainly seen by the citizens. By day a small black stem rose out of the 
mountain's summit and gradually widened into a gigantic pillar extending 
far into the sky. Then at the top the blackness spread out like the top of a 
gigantic toadstool. As the smoke rolled out and away from the top of the 
column and became thinner toward the edge the sun shone through it and 
gave it a lighter tinge, so that altogether a mighty umbrella with black 
handle and black cover, whose periphery was an ever tumbling fringe of 
gray, appeared to stand over the mountain. 

At night, in place of the smoke, a column of flame was seen to rise from 
the crater. 

It was the first time in years that the mountain had been so violently 
agitated. Two years previous the crater smoked unwontedly and there was 
fear of a blighting eruption, but no fire was emitted. In the 1906 eruption, 
however, both fire and ashes were thrown out for five days, destroying vege- 
tation over a large area. Before the day of the San Francisco earthquake 
Rainier had ceased to emit either smoke or ashes and was wholly quiescent. 

IN THE LAKE SUPERIOR COUNTRY. 

In the Lake Superior region, at the world famous copper mines at Calu- 
met, a distinct shock on Thursday brought consternation to the community. 
The Lake Superior region is regarded as of volcanic origin and disturbances 
in the past have not been infrequent. 



EARTHQUAKES 189 

Shocks were also reported near Colson, N. M., and at Cleveland, Ohio, 
but no damage to life or property resulted. 

That the disturbance in the copper region was more than local was con- 
firmed when Captain Harry Gunderson, of the steamer Henry Steinbrenner, 
arrived in Duluth and reported a remarkable experience on the waters of 
Lake Superior, due, he believes, to the Michigan earthquake. 

The steamer was off Eagle harbor, on Keweenaw Point, about noon, 
when Captain Gunderson said it suddenly quivered from stem to stern, 
though there was no shock or jar to indicate grounding. The vessel rocked 
as if in the throes of a sea, and the needle of the compass raced in a circle. 
The water became smooth again almost immediately. 

THROWN INTO A PANIC. 

On the following Saturday seismic disturbances were reported from 
several parts of Europe. Thirteen shocks were recognized in the province 
of Siene, Tuscany. 

The earthquakes occurred in quick succession and the inhabitants were 
thrown into a panic. Several buildings were damaged, including the city 
hall at Poggibonsi, nineteen miles south of Florence. 

Subterranean detonations were heard. The shock was felt as far as 
southern Italy. At Leece the quake was particularly violent, although no 
damage was done.' 

Almost simultaneously with the San Francisco earthquake a slight 
shock was felt at Moscow, Russia. The seismograph at Moscow University 
registered the disturbance almost to the hour of its occurrence, beginning at 
4:23 in the afternoon of April 18, which, reckoning the difference in time, 
was 5 130 in the morning in California. The greatest intensity was nine 
minutes, beginning at 4:27, and the principal movement was from north to 
south. 

At Funfkirchen, Hungary, a shock was felt lasting forty-one seconds. 

A submarine volcano off Izu, Japan, erupted April 14. The seismo- 
graphs at Tokio recorded the earthquake shocks at San Francisco. The 
first movement lasted eleven minutes. Subsequently there were vibrations 
lasting nineteen minutes, growing in intensity. The movement then con- 
tinued liarht for four hours. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
ALL CLASSES SEND QUICK AID. 

Intense Suffering of the Victims of Earthquake and Fire Appeal to This and Other Nations 
— Food and Money Pour Into the Ruined District by Trainloads — None Too Poor or Too 
Lowly to Render Assistance — Millionaires and Laborers Vie With Each Other in Rush- 
ing Help to the Stricken — Unique Ways of Raising Cash to Relieve Distress — Chinese 
in the United States Forget Race Prejudice and Contribute Their Cash to the General 
Relief Fund. 

Tell us when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the 
end of the world.— Math. 2i: 3. 

For the first time after the earthquake all the suffering inhabitants 
breakfasted on cooked food the morning of the fourth day. The food was 
cooked, however, in the open air, no fires being allowed in the houses that 
remained standing. A few bricks or stones gathered into the semblance of a 
furnace, with a few dry sticks beneath cans or kettles, formed the impro- 
vised kitchens, in which the food of the millionaire as well as the humblest 
workman was prepared. All through the fine residence section of Pacific 
Heights people sat on the sidewalks and took their black coffee, dry bread, 
crackers and, in some cases, eggs and bacon. 

In the parks and along the north beach, or wherever people were 
camped, the relief stations handed out food sufficient to relieve the situ- 
ation. 

That morning, however, the indescribable destitution and suffering 
were borne in on the authorities with crushing force. Dawn found lines of 
men. women and children numbering thousands awaiting morsels of food 
ot the various distributing stations. 

CHARGED $i A LOAF FOR BREAD. 

A big bakery was started later in the outskirts of the city, with the an- 
nouncement that it would turn out 50,000 loaves of bread before night. The 
news spread and thousands of hungry persons crowded before its doors be- 
fore the first deliveries were hot from the oven. Here police and soldiers 
kept order and permitted each person to take only one loaf. The loaves 
were given out without cost. 

These precautions were necessary, for bread had sold as high as $1 a 
loaf and two loaves and a can of sardines brought in one instance $3.50. 

Mayor Schmitz took prompt and drastic steps to stop this extortion. 
By his order all grocery and provision stores in the outlying districts which 
had escaped the flames were entered by the police and their goods confis- 
cated. 

190 



192 EARTHQUAKES 

A policeman reported that two grocery stores were closed, although 
the clerks were present. "Smash the stores open!" ordered the mayor, "and 
guard them." 

SOLDIER WITH GUN LOWERED PRICES. 

In the central part of the city the soldiers checked the outrageous 
famine prices charged the starving people. Lines of hungry formed before 
several stores whose supplies had not been commandeered. In one of these 
the first man was charged 75 cents for a loaf of bread. The corporal in 
charge at that point brought his gun down with a slam. 

"Bread is 10 cents a loaf in this shop," he said. 

The soldier's order went. He fixed the schedule of prices a little higher 
than in fair times, and to make up for that he forced the storekeeper to give 
free food to hungry people in line who were too poor to pay. 

In several other places the soldiers used the same brand of horse sense. 
"Thank God for the soldiers!" was the exclamation heard everywhere among 
the sufferers. 

For a time it was impossible to secure a vehicle except at extortionate 
prices. One merchant engaged a teamster and horses and wagon, agreeing 
to pa}- $50 an hour. Charges of $20 for carrying trunks a few blocks were 
common. The police and military seized teams wherever they required 
them, their wishes being enforced at revolver point if the owner proved in- 
disposed to comply with the demands. 



SUFFER THREE DAYS FOR WATER. 

Next to the need for food there was a cry for water, which for three 
days the authorities could not answer. Then the officers of the Spring Val- 
ley AYater Company announced that they were able to furnish the city with 
10,000,000 gallons of water. That night wagons mounted with barrels and 
guarded by soldiers drove through Golden Gate Park doling out water. 
There was always a crush about these wagons and but one drink was al- 
lowed to a person. 

The city slept that night in three concentration camps — at the Presidio, 
Golden Gate Park, and Fort Mason. Many of the rich even deserted their 
mansions to sleep out of doors for fear that the fire line might sweep on and 
take their houses with it. There were a few tents, but mainly the people 
slept out in the fog and the heavy dew, wrapped in blankets and bundled in 
quilts. 

There were some curious makeshifts — tents formed of quilts, hangings, 
portieres, even old clothes, just enough to hide the nakedness of women who 
had loosened their clothes for the first time in two days. By each little 
group, lying out on the grass and under the trees, would be a small bundle 
of household belongings. 



EARTHQUAKES 193 

WOMEN AND CHILDREN SLEEP ON HAY. 

There was indescribable suffering. Women and children who had com- 
fortable, happy homes a few days ago slept — if sleep came at all — on hay on 
the wharves, on the sand lots near North beach, some of them under the 
little tents made of sheeting which poorly protected them from the chilling 
ocean winds. Thousands of members of families separated, ignorant of one 
another's whereabouts and without means of ascertaining. To bring families 
together the police and military opened registration bureaus. 

One man who lived on Nob Hill, whose home had been destroyed and 
who was anxious concerning the welfare of his wife and four children, was 
a walking grocery store for several days. He had with him $60 worth of 
food of all kinds. It was packed in bundles, boxes and grips. He didn't 
know where he would find his family, but he was going armed, at any rate. 
The relief committee never learned whether his quest was successful. 

SHIPS TRIED TO TAKE FOOD AWAY. 

Before the relief trains began to reach San Francisco and while the 
homeless were barely subsisting on scant army rations, a squad of police in 
boats patroled Golden Gate Strait. Two lieutenants and eight men aboard 
the tug Sea Rover in the darkness of the night prevented the departure of 
several vessels from the harbor for the reason that they carried food. Among 
them were the barkentines Eureka and Barracuda, bound for Portland with 
considerable supplies on board. All the vessels were stopped and compelled 
to drop anchor in the stream or return to the dock, where the food was un- 
loaded and turned over to the authorities. 

On another occasion a similar detail of police succeeded in saving for 
the unfortunates many tons of food that would otherwise have been carried 
to cities up and down the coast. 

ONE APPEAL BRINGS TRAIN OF FOOD. 

Efforts at relief all over the country at first took the form of raising 
money, it being supposed cash would provide all that the suffering San 
Franciscans needed. While cities and individuals everywhere were con- 
tributing cash in large and small sums, according to ability, W. M. Field, 
of the Hooke-Field commission firm of San Francisco appeared before tne 
relief committee of Chicago and begged for food and raiment. 

"I wish to take the liberty to disagree with the gentleman who has just 
spoken," said Mr. Field. He referred to John G. Shedd, who insisted that 
Chicago should wait until it heard authoritatively of the needs of the San 
Francisco survivors before it sent anything westward. "I know San Fran- 
cisco and its needs. There were almost 500,000 people in that city on the 
morning of the earthquake. Not 10,000 have got aw T ay by the railroads. 
The rest have either fled to the nearest towns and cities or are marooned in 
the parks. 

"The entire Pacific coast is now being drained of its food supply to 



194 EARTHQUAKES 

satisfy the temporary needs of the city. The trouble is going to come a 
week or a fortnight hence, when the coast has been drained of its stores of 
food. 

"It will take a week to get food into San Francisco from the East, and, 
if you will permit me, I strongly urge you to start your first train tonight. 
The people of San Francisco won't need money for the next few months 
nearly as much as they will need food, clothing and medicines." 

As a result of Mr. Field's appeal Chicago business men equipped an 
entire train with $30,000 worth of food and clothing within a few hours and 
dispatched it to the destroyed city. 

WOMAN BALKS COMMERICALISM. 

An incident showing how a woman may sway a great audience took 
place in New York City. Former Californians had met in the Casino of the 
metropolis to raise a relief fund. Men and women worth millions sat side 
by side with store clerks and workmen — all made akin through the disaster 
to their native city. The meeting was under the auspices of Mrs. W. K. 
Vanderbilt, Jr.. and Mrs. Hermann Oelrichs. Mark Twain presided. 

Joseph Redding attempted to prove that San Franciscans should be glad 
of a disaster that had swept away rookeries, had rid San Francisco of great 
evils, and had made it possible to rebuild the city on modern lines. 

"Now, we have a chance to make San Francisco the most beautiful city 
in the world," said Redding, after he had pointed out the blessings he had 
found in the disaster. 

A woman rose in the middle of the orchestra seats. She was pale and 
tremulous with excitement. 

"I beg your pardon for interrupting," she said in a voice that was shrill 
and unnatural. "I am the daughter of the man who made the first seal of 
California, and who made the dies for the first $5 and $10 gold pieces ever 
coined in that State. My dear father lies dead in San Francisco." 

She stopped an instant and her frame shook with sobs. Then she went 
on with a braver voice : 

"My dear mother is in Golden Gate Park without bread to eat, without 
shelter over her head." 

Almost instantly the crowd broke into sobs and cries. It was the first 
human touch to a meeting that started off with the commercial side to the 
foremost. 

Redding, the speaker, looked dumbfounded. He saw that the people 
before him were thinking more of sick and homeless friends in the open 
parks of San Francisco than of a beautiful city to rise above the ruins. 

The meeting immediately was transformed into an organization for the 
collection of funds. 

UNIQUE WAYS OF RAISING CASH. 

A unique method of raising funds for the sufferers was that of the Cali- 



196 EARTHQUAKES 

fornia Fruit Growers' Association in New [York, which held an orange 
sale. A large part of the fruit in New York belonging to the members of the 
association was put up at auction at the Erie Pier on the North River. The 
entire proceeds of the sale went to the sufferers. 

Another instance of New York enthusiasm in raising funds was seen 
when Willie Hoppe, a boy billiardist, sold papers in front of the Flatiron 
building and at the Polo grounds, getting more than $300. Two hundred 
dollars was raised, too, by girls selling flowers in the streets of Gotham. 

CHINESE GIVE GENEROUSLY. 

Chinamen scattered in various cities throughout the United States were 
moved to sympathy by the earthquake and fire disaster. Thousands of their 
countrymen in San Francisco were facing starvation, but in making gifts 
to the relief fund no Chinaman requested that his donation go to any par- 
ticular class of sufferers. All were confident justice would be done to China- 
man and American alike. An appeal was sent to Canton and Hong Kong, 
China, asking for the co-operation of those cities in the relief work. The 
majority of the Chinamen in the United States are Cantonese, and their 
appeal met with a liberal response at home. 

The first Chinese contribution was made by the Chinese colony in 
Chicago. Its relief committee was organized without any suggestion from 
Americans. Within three days the committee visited Mayor Dunne and 
laid four bright, new $1,000 bills before him, its chairman, Wing Tank, at 
the same time saying: 

"The Chinese people in this country will do their part to feed the hungry 
people. The Chinese colony in Chicago numbers about 1,800, and we al- 
ready have $4,000 cash in hand and will make the amount $6,000 before an- 
other night. We wish this money to be used in caring for all who are 
suffering regardless of race. We have heard that the American people have 
been feeding the destitute Chinese in San Francisco, and at a time like this 
we must treat all alike." 

MOVE MAYOR TO TRIPLE HIS GIFT. 

Mayor Dunne was so moved by this unexpected generosity from men 
who for the most part earn a livelihood over the washtub that he decided he 
could afford a larger contribution than he had made. Consequently he at 
once added $100 to the $50 he had already given, making his total at the 
time $150. 

In addition to his cash offering Wong Fa, a Chicago Chinese merchant, 
who has several branch stores in California, wired to his store in Los An- 
geles to ship all the groceries and provisions in stock to the stricken city. 

SUFFERER GIVES HALF SHE HAS LEFT. 

But if the generosity of the thousands outside the stricken district is 



EARTHQUAKES 197 

deserving of admiration and praise, what may be said of one who lost nearly 
everything in the disaster and yet gave liberally of what remained to those 
worse off? Mrs. Hugh Crum, long a wealthy property owner of San Fran- 
cisco, reported to the relief committee in Oakland that all her income-bearing 
property had been destroyed, but that she had a little money in the banks, 
which she proposed to divide equally with the relief committee. She there- 
fore subscribed $10,000 to the relief fund. 

Numerous instances of that kind were recorded by the distributors of 
aid, the incidents tending to show that after all has been said of American 
greed the love of money nowhere begins to equal man's love for man. 

STRANGE SCENES AMONG RECIPIENTS. 

Meantime in San Francisco there were many picturesque though pa- 
thetic scenes. There were no disorders when the hungry thousands were 
told to form a line and receive their bread and canned goods. All were con- 
tent to wait their turn. Silk-hatted men followed good naturedly behind 
Chinese and took their loaves from the same hand. 

At the ferry station there were unusually pathetic scenes among the 
hungry people. When the first boat came in from Stockton with tons of 
supplies a number of small children were the first to spy a large box of sand- 
wiches with cries of delight. They made a rush for the food, seized as much 
as they could hold and rushed to their mothers with shouts of "Oh, mamma, 
mamma, look at the sandwiches !" 

Seated around the ferry landing sat hundreds of people sucking canned 
fruits from the tins. Some were drinking condensed cream and some were 
lucky enough to have sardines or cheese. 

At several places along Market street scores of men were digging with 
their hands among the still smoking debris of some large grocery house for 
canned goods. 

When they secured it, which they did without molestation from any- 
body, they broke the tins and drank the contents. 

At Filbert and Van Ness avenue one night a wagon of supplies con- 
veyed by soldiers was besieged by a crowd of hungry people. 

They appealed to the soldiers for food and their appeals were quickly 
heeded. Seizing an ax a soldier smashed the boxes and tossed the supplies 
to the crowd, which took time to cheer lustily. 

An incident showing the universal sympathy for the sufferers was given 
by the boys of Kenwood, an aristocratic neighborhood of Chicago, who built 
an open air theater in the rear of 95 Forty-seventh street, where they gave 
an entertainment to raise a relief fund. Kenwood had been billed for the 
novel affair. The proceeds were forwarded for the benefit of boys under 12 
years of age who suffered by the San Francisco disaster. The promoters 
of the entertainment were Gordon Thorne, 99 Forty-seventh street ; Kenneth 
and Darwin Curtis, JJ Forty-seventh street ; Gilbert and Dwight Maxwell, 
and Robert Bruihm. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
WIERD INCIDENTS AMID SUFFERING. 

Pays $100 for a Carriage — Letters Go Without Stamps — Fat Man Carries Bird Cage — Misses 
Death by Few Inches — Goes With Coffin in Flight — Prima Donna Clad as a Man — Sky- 
scrapers Stand Shock Best — Twelve Gored to Death — Woman "Waiting for Husband." 

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the chief captains, and the mighty 
men, and every bond man, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks 
of the mountains. — Eev. 6: 15. 

Among the refugees in Berkeley was a woman with three baskets of 
cats. She was dressed in what had been a handsome silk gown, but now was 
ill tatters. She offered a diamond ring of at least one and a half karats 
for food for herself and pets. She was penniless, but said her husband was 
rated by Bradstreet's at $350,000. 

\\ . H. Sanders, consulting engineer of the United States Geological 
Survey, insisted on paying his hotel bill before he left the St. Francis. He 
said : 

"Before leaving my room I made my toilet and packed my grip. The 
other guests had left the house as I hurried down the lobby. There I met 
the clerk, who had rushed in to get something. I told him I wanted to pay 
my bill. T guess not,' he said, 'this is no time for settlement.' 

"As he ran into the office I cornered him, paid him the money, and got 
his receipt, hurriedly stamped." 

PAYS $100 FOR A CARRIAGE. 

Miss Bessie Tannehill, an actress at the Tivoli Theater, paid $100 for a 
short carriage ride. 

"I was asleep in the Hotel Langham, Ellis and Mason streets, when the 
shock came," said Miss Tannehill. 

"At the first shock I leaped from the bed and ran to the window. Men, 
women and children, almost without clothing, crowded the place, crying and 
praying as they rushed out. 

''When outside I saw the streets filled with people, who rushed about 
wringing their hands and crying. Proprietor Lisser of the hotel offered a 
cabman $50 to take himself and his wife to the Presidio Heights, but he 
refused. He wanted more money. We finally secured a carriage by paying 
$ico. Fire was raging at this time and people were panic stricken. 

"I saw many looters and pickpockets at work. On Mission street a 
band of thieves was at work. They were pursued by troops, but escaped in 
an auto." 

198 



200 EARTHQUAKES 

BABIES BORN IN THE PARK. 

Reports of babes being born in the refugee camps were frequently re- 
ceived. Five women became mothers in Golden Gate Park. The main 
remaining lire was confined to east of Van Ness avenue and north of Union 
street, but was burning its way to the shore. 

The police broke open every saloon and corner grocery in the saved 
districts and poured all malt and spirituous liquors into the gutters. 

Women staggered under burdens they were loath to relinquish, stum- 
bling over the obstructions of stone and entangling wires; men hauled trunks 
on wheelbarrows; shouldered suit cases, bedding or household goods. 

Some trundled go-carts containing their sleeping children with one hand, 
assisting their exhausted wives with the other. Drivers of the vehicles were 
disregardful of these exhausted, hungry refugees and drove their animals 
straight through the crowds. 

FAT MAN CARRIES BIRD CAGE. 

"There was some humor and a lot of pathos in the crowded streets after 
the shock,'' said A. Dalrymple, of New York. 

"I ran from the Grand Hotel, with the plaster showering down on my 
head, and the first thing I saw was a man, with blood streaming from cuts 
on his head and body, carrying a dead woman in his arms. He was the 
janitor of a three-story building and had found himself in the basement with 
his dead wife beside him. The building had split in two. 

"I saw one big, fat man calmly walking up Market street carrying a 
huge bird cage in his arm. and the cage was empty. 

"In Fell street an old lady scantily dressed was pushing a sewing ma- 
chine up the hill. That sewing machine was her world just then. 

"At the park a man came in carrying a large carved, wooden Japanese 
statue. He laid it on the grass as carefully as if it had been his wife or 
child. 

"It seemed as if every other person was carrying a phonograph, with 
the big trumpet tucked under his arm. I never before realized there were 
so many. 

"At the Panhandle in the evening was an eighty-year old woman who 
had owned two buildings that were destroyed. She was the most cheerful 
one in the park." 

LETTERS GO WITHOUT STAMPS. 

Letters from San Francisco for several days were sent through the 
mails free of postage. This was made necessary on account of the unpre- 
cedented demand for stamps, which the local postofifice could not supply. 

Eleven postal clerks were taken from the debris of the postoffice on 
Friday. All were thought to be dead, but it was found that, although they 
were buried in the stone, every one was alive. They had been for three days 
without food or water. All the mail was saved. 



EARTHQUAKES 201 

IMPOSSIBLE TO DELIVER TELEGRAMS. 

The delivery of telegraphic messages from outside points to people in 
San Francisco was an impossibility for several days. The messenger ser- 
vice of both the big telegraph companies no longer existed. 

Even had the companies an army of messengers they would have been 
of little value, for the reasons that the people were scattered far and wide 
and a journey from the ferry building to the western addition or to the 
refugee camps consumed many hours. 

. Most of the automobiles were impressed into the service of the police 
or military authority, and these had but one circuitous route from the one 
telegraph station at the water front to municipal headquarters and the 
unswept western portions. 

Unable to establish telegraphic communication with the north, the West- 
ern Union Telegraph Company sent more than 5,000 private messages to 
San Francisco and Oakland by train, to be delivered by special messengers 
in the stricken cities, but not more than a score or so reached the ad- 
dresses. 

PRIEST SAYS MASS MIDST RUINS. 

From Fort Mason, where most of the Italians and Spaniards from the 
Telegraph Hill had passed the night, there started on the third day an early 
morning exodus for the ferry. A priest of the church of SS. Peter and Paul 
— "the church of the fishermen," they call it — had saved from the church 
the host, vestments and sacred vessels. 

Early in the morning he set up an altar in the open air and said mass. 
Then the march to the ferry began. Every vehicle in the city, even push 
carts and wheelbarrows, was in use by the city authorities and the soldiers. 
The chief means of transportation for personal goods, therefore, was baby 
carriages. 

The line of crying, jostling foreigners shoving overloaded baby carriages 
ahead of them was half pitiful and half comic. The carriages kept breaking 
down, and the line of march to the ferry building was strewn with their 
wreckage. 

Harry L. Pittock, publisher of the Oregonian of Portland, Ore., was a 
guest of the Occidental Hotel when the crash came. Mr. Pittock was not 
injured by the falling walls, but his suit case, lying open beside his bed, was 
flattened like a pancake. He was forced to walk the streets during Wednes- 
day and Wednesday night, but found quarters on Thursday night. 

A strange case of shooting was that of a foreigner who was ordered to 
chop down some trees by a soldier. Not understanding English, the for- 
eigner started to walk away and was shot through the body and dangerously 
wounded. 

GOES WITH COFFIN IN FLIGHT. 

One young girl followed for two days the body of her father, her only 



202 EARTHQUAKES 

relative. It had been taken from a house in Mission street to an under- 
taker's shop just after the quake. The fire drove her out with her charge, 
and it was placed in Mechanics' Pavilion. 

That went, and it had rested for a day at the Presidio, waiting burial. 
With many others she wept on the border of the burial area, while the women 
cared for her. 

A man passing through Portsmouth Square noticed a mother cowering 
under a bush. She was singing in a quavering voice a lullaby to her baby. 
He parted the bushes and looked in. Then he saw that what she held in her 
arms was only a mangled and reddened bit of flesh. The baby had been 
crushed when the shock of earthquake came and its mother did not know 
that its life had left it thirty hours before. 

PIN NAMES AND ADDRESSES TO TREES. 

"When the third morning came the people prepared to make permanent 
the camp in Golden Gate Park. An ingenious man hung up before his little 
blanket shelter a sign on a stick giving his name and his address before the' 
fire wiped him out. This became a fashion, and it was taken to mean that 
the space was pre-empted. 

Toward midnight a black, staggering body of men began to weave 
through the entrance. They were volunteer fire fighters looking for a place 
to throw themselves down and sleep. These men dropped out all along 
the line and were rolled out of the driveways by the troops. 

There was much splendid unselfishness here. Women gave up their 
blankets and sat up or walked about all night to cover exhausted men 
who had fought fire until there was no more fight in them. 

PRIMA DONNA CLAD AS A MAN. 

All of the grand opera stars had exciting experiences. The prima 
donnas escaped from the hotel in their night dresses, and the world famous 
tenors, bassos and baritones in their pajamas, none pausing to dress when 
the first shock of earthquake was felt. 

Caruso, the tenor, was one of the first to escape from the Palace Hotel. 
A few minutes after the first shock he was found, barefooted and pajama 
clad, seated on his valise in the middle of the street. 

One charming contralto fled from the swaying, reeling hotel in her 
night clothes and without stopping to save any of her personal effects. 
Unable to procure other clothing, she finally was compelled to don some 
necessary articles of attire originally designed for a man. 

One singer was seen standing in the street, barefoot, and clad only in 
his underwear, but clutching a favorite violin, which he had carried with 
him in his flight. 

Rossi, a favorite basso, though almost in tears, was heard trying his 
voice at a corner near the Palace Hotel. 



204 EARTHQUAKES 

SKYSCRAPERS STAND SHOCK BEST. 

The great modern steel structures were least injured by the earthqual e 
itself, except for cracked walls and displaced plaster. All these huge struc- 
tures subsequently were utterly ruined by the flames so far as the interior 
construction is concerned, but the walls were in some cases intact. The 
most notable cases of practical immunity from the shock were the St. 
Francis Hotel, the Fairmont Hotel, the Flood building, the Mills building, 
the Spreckels building, the Chronicle building, and scores of other modern 
steel structures. 

The branch of the United States mint on Fifth street and the new post- 
office at Seventh and Mission streets furnished striking examples of the 
superiority of the workmanship put into federal buildings. The old mint 
building, surrounded by a wide space of pavement, was absolutely un- 
harmed. Not even the few palm trees which stand on either side of its 
broad entrance were withered by the flames that devoured everything 
around it. 

FORCED TO SAVE PAINTINGS. 

There was a sharp, businesslike precision about the soldiers. The San 
Francisco water rat thug and "Barbary coast'' pirate may flout a policeman, 
but he discovered he could not disobey a man who wore Uncle Sam's uni- 
form without imminent risk of being counted in that abstract mortuary 
list usually designated as ''unknown dead." 

For instance : When Xob Hill was the crest of a huge wave of flame, 
soldiers were directing the work of saving the priceless art treasures from 
the Mark Hopkins Institute. Lieut. C. C. McMillan, of the revenue cutter 
Bear, impressed volunteers at the point of a pistol to assist in saving the 
priceless art treasures which the building housed. 

"Here, you," barked Lieut. McMillan to the great crowd of dazed 
men, "get in there and earn- out those paintings." 

"What business have you got to order us about?" said a burly citizen 
with the jowl of a Bill Sykes. 

The lieutenant gave a significant hitch to his arm and the burly man 
saw a revolver was hanging from the forefinger of the lieutenant's right 
hand. 

"Look here," said the lieutenant. "You see this gun? Well, I think it 
is aimed at your right eye. Now, come here. I want to have a little talk 
with you." 

The tough stared for a moment and then the shade of fear crept over 
his face, and with an "All right, boss," he started in upon the labor of recov- 
ering the art treasures from the institute. 

"This is martial law," said the determined lieutenant. "I don't like it, 
you may not like it, but it goes. I think that is understood." 



EARTHQUAKES 205 

HUMANITY'S SCUM ON TOP. 

A crew of hell rats crept out of their holes and in the flamelight plun- 
dered and reveled in bacchanalian orgies like the infamous intimates of 
Javert in "Les Miserables." These denizens of the sewer traps and purlieus 
of "The Barbary Coast" exulted in unhindered joy of doing evil. 

Sitting crouched among the ruins or sprawling on the still warm pave- 
ment scores were seen brutally drunk. A demijohn of wine placed on a con- 
venient corner of some ruin was a shrine at which they worshiped. They 
toasted chunks of sausage over the dying coals of the cooling ruin even as 
they drank, and their songs of revelry were echoed from wall to wall down 
in the burnt Mission district. 

Some of the bedizened women of the half world erected tents and cham- 
pagne could be had for the asking, although water had its price. One of 
these women, dressed in pink silk with high heeled satin slippers on her 
feet, walked down the length of what had been Natoma street with a bucket 
of water and a dipper, and she gave the precious fluid freely to those stricken 
ones huddled there by their household goods and who had not tasted water 
in twenty-four hours. 

"Let them drink and be happy," said she, "water tastes better than beer 
to them now." 

TWELVE GORED TO DEATH. 

Twelve persons met death from the hoofs and horns of 300 cattle which 
stampeded at Sixth and Folsom streets. 

Terrified by the flames which were sweeping down upon them, the herd 
ran madly through the street, crushing everything before it. 

An aged man who was crossing the street was the first to die. He was 
gored to death. 

The herd finally was scattered and many of the animals have been killed 
for beef by citizens. 

Among the pathetic incidents of the fire was that of a woman who sat 
at the foot of Van Ness avenue on the hot sands on the hillside overlooking 
the bay east of Fort Mason with four little children, the youngest a girl of 
3, the eldest a boy of 10. They were destitute of water, food and money. 

The woman had fled with her children from a home in flames in the Mis- 
sion street district and tramped to the bay in the hope of sighting the ship 
which she said was about due, of which her husband was the captain. 

"He would know me anywhere," she said. She would not move, al- 
though a young fellow gallantly offered his tent back on a vacant lot in 
which to shelter her children. 

ALL DISTINCTIONS WIPED OUT. 

The common destitution and suffering wiped out all social, financial and 
racial distinctions. The man who was a prosperous merchant occupied with 



206 EARTHQUAKES 

his family a little plot of ground that adjoined the open-air home of a 
laborer. The white man of California forgot his antipathy to the Asiatic 
race and maintained friendly relations with his new Chinese and Japanese 
neighbors. 

The society "belle who was a butterfly of fashion at the grand opera 
performance the night of the earthquake was assisting some factory girl in 
the preparation of humble daily meals next day. Money had little value. 
The family who had foresight to lay in the largest stock of foodstuffs on the 
first day of the disaster was rated highest in the scale of wealth. 

A few of the families that could secure willing expressmen were pos- 
sessors of cooking stoves, but over 95 per cent of the refugees did their cook- 
ing on little camp fires made of brick or stone. Kitchen utensils that previ- 
ously would have been regarded with contempt were articles of high value. 

Many of the homeless people were in possession of comfortable cloth- 
ing and bed covering, but the great bulk of them were in need. 

A well known young woman of social position when asked where she 
had spent the second night replied : "On a grave." 

WAGON HIRE $50 AN HOUR. 

It was impossible to secure a vehicle except at extortionate prices. One 
merchant engaged a teamster and horses and wagon, agreeing to pay $50 
an hour. Charges of $20 for carrying trunks a few blocks were common. 
The police and military seized teams wherever they required them, their 
wishes being enforced at the revolver point if the owner proved indisposed 
to comply with the demands. 

Three-quarters of the people were helping each other, sharing rations, 
helping to hunt for the missing, and caring for the sick. One-quarter were 
grabbing and storing food, trying to make .money from the necessities of 
others, ready to rob and to plunder. One old man who went over alone on 
the ferry to Oakland wore a big overcoat, although the weather was mild. 
He appeared fat and walked with difficulty. A soldier took a good look 
at him, stepped forward, ripped his overcoat open, and found he had tied 
bags of provisions all about his body like a life preserver. 

$200,000,000 IN MINT SAVED. 

Like a great monument in the midst of a ruined city stood the United 
States mint, the only building remaining in the heart of what once was the 
business center of San Francisco. On all sides were fallen walls and heaps 
of ashes, but in the vaults of the great treasure-house were gold coins and 
bars valued at $200,000,000, safe within the solid walls of stone and steel. 

The story of the fight to save this vast treasure is a tale of heroism that 
stirs the blood. For hours forty employes of the mint and a hundred men 
of the regular army fought to save the gold. One of the heroic band said: 
"The price was worth fighting for, and we fought and won." 




Chinatown Has Been Destroyed. 



208 EARTHQUAKES 

The worst part of the first big fire broke out one block from the mint. 
Within an hour the entire block of big frame buildings on the opposite side 
of Mission street was a flaming mass. With the first fire alarm the mint 
force realized their danger. There was a deep well in the mint basement 
which gives it an independent water supply, and the pumps were at once 
started working at their full capacity, and the hose lines were laid. Roofs, 
windows and walls were kept wet, and, although the streams were pitifully 
weak, they served the purpose. 

ONLY ONE STREAM OF WATER. 

Then came a hundred soldiers from the Presidio. They joined the gal- 
lant band of fire fighters. The flames spread on all sides, but the brave men 
stood at their posts in face of gravest danger. Towering sheets of flame 
cut them off from the world. The roar and crackle of the flames was ap- 
palling, but none flinched. The fire department for a time was able to aid 
in the battle with a single stream of salt water, but finally it was driven 
back by the flames, and the mint men and soldiers fought alone. 

There were times when the walls grew intensely hot as the flames' fierce 
blasts swept upon them. Cooling streams from mint walls warded off the 
danger. From the west and south the flames spread. On four sides the 
mint was hemmed in by flaming buildings, while only narrow streets sepa- 
rated it from the fire. 

For seven long hours in the intense heat the men remained at work, and 
then the billows of fire swept on to spread ruin in buildings miles away, 
leaving Uncle Sam's treasure-house intact. 

SAVES OAKLAND BY STOPPING DYNAMOS. 

The fire in 'Frisco started in fifteen places simultaneously, and it is 
supposed it was due to the breaking of the electric wires downtown in the 
wholesale districts, and to the upsetting of lamps and oil stoves in the tene- 
ment section, following the earthquake. 

The same catastrophe in the shape of fire might have visited Oakland 
had not the man in charge of the light and power plant had the good judg- 
ment to shut off all electricity at the dynamos on the first jar of the earth- 
quake. This undoubtedly was the only thing that saved Oakland from the 
same fate that befell San Francisco. 

John Murphy, the millionaire banker and philanthropist, of Pittsburg, 
notified Mayor Guthrie that he would pay the railroad fare of 1,000 families 
who were homeless in San Francisco, give them good houses in Pittsburg in 
which to live rent free for one year, and furnish employment for the heads 
of the families and all others who desired to work. 

Mr. Murphy was acting for a number of Pittsburgers, but at once 
placed at the disposal of the mayor ten houses of his own with rent free for 
a year for any families that could arrive within a week. 



CHAPTER XX. 

LOSS, $500,000,000— REBUILDING THE CITY. 

Earthquake and riame Sweep Away Property Valued at $500,000,000 — Insurance Companies 
Hit for More Than $200,000,000 — Giant Concerns Eise to the Emergency and Pay Loss — 
Victims of the Disaster, Their Courage Unbroken — Begin Rebuilding the City Before 
the Ruins are Cold — New 'Frisco a Rival of World Renowned Paris from the Standpoint 
of Beauty. 

But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, re- 
served unto fire against the day of judgment. — 2 Peter 3-7. 

The property loss by reason of the earthquake and the fire in San 
Francisco amounted in the aggregate to fully $500,000,000 — a figure that 
cannot be realized by the ordinary mind. 

If every man, woman and child in the United States was to contribute 
about $8.50 each the sum total of the contributions would just about pay 
the loss 'Frisco suffered. Great as was the loss, it did not discourage the 
people of the Golden Gate city, and long before the ashes of the once proud 
metropolis were cold the work of rebuilding was under way. 

While the fire was at its height one man wanted to know whether the 
fire had reached his home. He was informed that there was not a house 
standing in that section of the city. He shrugged his shoulders and whistled. 

"There's lots of others in the same boat," as he turned away. 

And those men who have lost everything started plans to begin all over 
again. 

"Going to build?" repeated one man who lost family and home inside 
of two hours. "Of course, I am," 

"They tell me that the money in the banks is all right and I have some 
insurance. Fifteen years ago I began with these," showing his hands, "and 
I guess I'm game to do it over again. Build again? Well, I wonder." 

SPIRIT IS NOT BROKEN. 

These little things showed the spirit with which the people of San 
Francisco faced the worst that the fates could send. They were down but 
not out. The spirit of '49 lived and moved among those tattered refugees, 
and no loss could crush it out. 

These were the sons of the men who made San Francisco the greatest- 
city in the West. To them and their sons was given the task of retrieving 
a city's fortunes. 

No fire in the history of the world fell as heavily on the fire insurance 
companies as the San Francisco disaster. 

Seventy-eight American and thirty foreign companies carried risks in 



210 EARTHQUAKES 

the city of the Golden Gate, and their total underwriting was $238,880,000. 
The loss was not total, but even the liabil.ty exceeded anything in the his- 
tory of previous fires. 

The Home Insurance Company of New York at once compiled a list 
of the insurance carried, which showed that the losses were nearly $50,- 
000,000 greater than in the great Chicago fire, which resulted in scores of 
weak companies being wiped out of existence. 

CALIFORNIA COMPANIES SUFFER. 

The companies hardest hit by the earthquake fire catastrophe were the 
California concerns, which suffered doubly. They had to draw on their 
treasuries to pay losses, and as their assets were invested principally in San 
Francisco bonds and mortgages, they were unable to realize from a source 
that was destroyed. 

The bulk of the damage was in the business, financial and manufac- 
turing districts, where the policies were large in amount and where the 
greatest destruction was wrought by the flames. 

E. H. A. Correa, vice-president of the Home Insurance Company, and 
an expert in the adjustment of losses, said while watching the fire that, not- 
withstanding the unparalleled character of the disaster, there was a consid- 
erable reduction from salvage on buildings of iron and steel construction, 
the frames of which were later utilized in rebuilding. 

There was a further reduction of" liability where damage was done by 
the earthquake alone, but with all these reductions subtracted, the total 
payment by the companies went far beyond the combined losses of great 
fires in the United States in half a century. 

LIST OF AFFECTED COMPANIES. 

Following is a list of the companies and the risks they carried: 

DOMESTIC. 

Amount of risk Globe and Rutgers 1,280,000 

in San Francisco Alliance, Philadelphia .... 1,624,000 

Fireman's Fund, San Fran- German National, Chicago 1,286,000 

cisco $ 6,208,000 Providence, Washington . . 1,256,000 

Home, San Francisco 2,488,000 Glens Falls . 1,232,000 

Pacific Underwriters, San German, Peoria, 111 1,176,000 

Francisco 1,648,000 Orient, Hartford 1,144,000 

New York Underwriters, Dutchess, Poughkeepsie, 

Hartford, Citizens' of N. Y 1,128,000 

Louis, 70 per cent of its Calumet, Chicago 1,104,000 

risk 12,636,000 Girard Fire & Marine. . . . 1,096,000 

Citizens', St. Louis, 30 per Mercantile, Boston 1,040,000 

cent of its own risk 420,000 Delaware, Philadelphia . . 1,000,000 




The Call Building as the Fire Destroyed It. 



212 



EARTHQUAKES 



Phenix of Brooklyn 4,944,000 

North German 4,712,000 

Traders', Chicago 4,640,000 

Pennsylvania 4,408,000 

German, Freeport, 111 4,241,000 

Insurance Co. of North 

America 3,912,000 

Germania, New York 3,720,000 

Aetna, Hartford 3,576,000 

German-American 3,560,000 

Home, New York 3,176,000 

Milwaukee Mechanics' ... 2,736,000 

Connecticut 2,728,000 

Continental, New York. . . 2,712,000 

Niagara 2,648,000 

National, Hartford 2,416,000 

Fire Association of Phila- 

phia 2,296,000 

Phoenix, Hartford 2,240,000 

American, Philadelphia ... 2,200,000 

Springfield Fire & Marine 2,088,000 

Queen, America 1,910,000 

Hanover, New York 1,848,000 

Franklin, Philadelphia ... 1,672,000 

National Union, Pittsburg 1,672,000 
American Central, St. 

Louis 1 ,584,000 

American, Newark 1,512,000 

St. Paul Fire & Marine. . . 1,496,000 

Williamsburg City 1.400,000 

Westchester, New York.. 1,400,000 

Citizens', St. Louis 1,400,000 

Agricultural, Watertown . 1,304,000 



American, Boston 

Colonial Underwriters, 
Hartford 

Eagle, New York 

North German, N. Y 

Northwestern National, 
Milwaukee 

United Firemen's, Phila- 
delphia 

Rochester German 

Spring Garden, Philadel- 
phia 

North River, New York. . 

New Hampshire 

Philadelphia Underwriters 

Caledonian American, New 
York 

Union, Philadelphia 

Michigan Fire & Marine.. 

Security, Baltimore 

German Alliance, N. Y. . .. 

Nassau, Brooklyn 

Pelican, New York 

New York Fire 

Concordia, Milwaukee . . . 

Atlanta, Birmingham .... 

Security, New Haven.... 

Equitable, Providence .... 

Teutonia, New Orleans 

Indemnity, New York. . . . 

Austin, Texas 

Commercial Union, N. Y.. 

British-American, N. Y. . . 

Queen City, South Dakota 



984,000 

976,000 
952,000 
928,000 

880,000 

880,000 
856,000 

760,000 
720,000 
712,000 
712,000 

704,000 
696,000 
632,000 
624,000 
584,000 
584,000 
576,000 
552,000 
504,000 
496,000 
488,000 
464,000 
424,000 
376,000 
344,000 
328,000 
240,000 
162,000 



FOREIGN. 



London Assurance 7,016,000 

Royal, Liverpool 6,688,000 

Trans-Atlantic, Hamburg. 5,912,000 

London and Lancashire.. . 5,180,000 
Rhine and Moselle, Stras- 

burg 4,768,000 

Liverpool and London and 

Globe 4,688,000 



Alliance, London 3,496,000 

Union, London 3,384,000 

Sun, London 3,200,000 

Atlas, London 3,176,000 

Palatine, London 2,736,000 

Austrian, Phoenix, Vienna 2,440,000 

Norwich Union, England. 2,424,000 

New Zealand 2,336,000 



EARTHQUAKES 213 

Royal Exchange, London. 4,520,000 Law, Union and Crown.. 2,240,000 

Hamburg-Bremen 4,448,000 Svea of Gothenburg, Swe- 

Phoenix, London 5,704,000 den 2,072,000 

Northern, London 4,288,000 Scottish Union & National 1.752,000 

Aachen and Munch 3,952,000 Scottish Underwriters . . . 368,000 

Commercial Union, London 3,920,000 Western Toronto 1,392,000 

Caledonian, Scotland .... 3,578,000 State, Liverpool 1,232,000 

North British and Mercan- British American, Toronto 1,064,000 

tile 3,560,000 Manchester, England .... 448,000 



LIFE CONCERNS LITTLE AFFECTED. 

Life insurance companies were little affected by the San Francisco disaster. 
Some of them had a few extra claims. A few which had investments in San 
Francisco securities lost something in that way. 

Temporarily there was a slight slump in the value of their other securities 
owing to some fire insurance companies being compelled to turn securities into 
cash to meet their losses. But on the whole the life insurance companies scarcely 
felt the disaster. 

The Metropolitan Life of New York, which did practically all the indus- 
trial life insurance business in San Francisco, had a number of claims on the 
lives of those killed by the earthquake, which did most of its killing in the lodg- 
ing house and poor districts, where industrial insurance was carried. 

The Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of San Francisco, with which 
had been merged the Conservative Life Insurance Company of Los Angeles, suf- 
fered perhaps more than others, owing to the loss of its home office building and 
the fact that it owned more San Francisco securities than other companies, or 
most of them. 

ACCIDENT CLAIMS WERE HEAVY. 

Accident insurance companies had many claims to pay. The Pacific Mutual 
Life of San Francisco has long had a large accident department and had a good 
business in its home city. Other prominent accident companies were also oper- 
ating there.. 

The fact, however, that the greatest mortality occurred among the poor peo- 
ple, who were least likely to carry accident insurance, let the companies out much 
more lightly than a similar number of deaths on a railroad train or steamboat 
would have done. 

Health insurance was not yet written in such large amounts as to cut a great 
figure in the results of the disaster. 

There were a considerable number of claims, however, due largely to the ex- 
posure and awful strain to which the people were subjected. 

The catastrophe cost the credit insurance companies dearly. The amount of 
these losses was tremendous. These companies insure jobbers and wholesalers 
against loss through bad debts over a certain amount. 



214 EARTHQUAKES 

The contracts run for a year and adjustments are made after the results 
of the year are shown by the merchants' books. 

The credit companies do business at large commercial centers all over the 
country and within a few months after the disaster merchants in New York, Chi- 
cago, St. Louis, Denver, Portland and other points having large dealings with 
San Francisco presented claims for losses due to the inability of San Francisco 
merchants to meet their obligations to them. 

Others who did not deal with San Francisco had some claims due to the em- 
barrassment of merchants in other cities on account of their inability to collect 
from their San Francisco debtors. 

CITY WAS A DANGEROUS RISK. 

From the standpoint of the underwriter San Francisco has been unique. A 
manager who spent most of his life there said soon after the earthquake and fire 
that to the average fire underwriter from another part of the country San Fran- 
cisco would appear to be uninsurable. 

It was a redwood town. The number of its fireproof buildings and risks 
equipped with automatic sprinklers was small as compared with other cities. 

Its hills were steep and it was subject to wind a large part of the time. 

From an insurance man's, standpoint all these features were against it and 
they would have been sufficient to cause companies to assume only limited liabili- 
ties in most instances. 

Yet companies may almost be said to have plunged into San Francisco. 
For years they wrote jumbo lines in the congested district — and in San Francisco 
values were worse congested in a limited area than they are in other great cities. 

Underwriters there for years made money for their companies partly by 
luck, partly by reason of the climate and largely because the city had one of the 
best fire departments in the world. 

The low loss ratio for years was a continued temptation to companies to go 
in for large lines. 

While to an outsider the proposition looked dangerous, the local men knew 
that the winter was a rainy season, the summer nights were foggy, so build- 
ings never got thoroughly dried out, and the fire department nearly always got 
fires under control before they damaged more than two or three buildings. 

The public appreciated some of these conditions, too, and that was one rea- 
son, if not the main one, why business men took so many chances by securing 
only light insurance to value. 

WORK OF REBUILDING IS BEGUN. 

It was. before the fire had died down and before the insurance companies 
began to pay losses that the victims, their spirit unbroken, laid .their plans for a 
greater, a more beautiful San Francisco. 

Before a week, with its heartaches, its horrors and its business shocks, had 



216 EARTHQUAKES 

gone by, architects were at work in 'Frisco and in other cities, making plans 
for the restoration of the city on a grander scale than ever before. 

The rebuilding of San Francisco was the speediest and most wonderful piece 
of work that the world ever saw, not alone because of the high courage and 
dauntless spirit that animated the forty-niners and their descendants, but because 
the facilities were greater than ever before in the history of the world. 

The great requisites for rebuilding are obviously money, men and material. 

San Francisco's material loss was nearly $500,000,000, but while thousands 
were homeless and houseless, and hundreds of thousands lost their all, there re- 
mained of the people of San Francisco thousands who, having lost much, had 
much more to lose. To a man and woman they ventured their all in the rebuild- 
ing of the city. 

STURDY SPIRIT REIGNS. 

Nearly all of the great San Francisco mercantile houses were in the hands 
of old San Francisco families. 

Miller, Sloss & Scott, the great hardware firm, is practically owned by the 
Sloss family that won fame and fortune in Alaskan fisheries, the fur seal con- 
cession on the PrybalofT Islands, and later in the Klondike. 

All of the members of that family have considerable investments outside of 
San Francisco. There was no question about Miller, Sloss & Scott resuming. 
They placed the order for steel for a new building before the ruins had cooled. 

In the dry goods line such firms as Levi, Straus & Co., Murphy, Grant & Co., 
Weil, Michaels & Co., Greenebaum, Feigenbaum, Sachs, Fechelmer, and hun- 
dreds of others in the Sansome street district were all extremely wealthy outside 
their business and were known to have outside investments. 

The great provision houses nearly all owned the buildings in which they did 
business, and men like Haas Bros., Van Sicklen, Schilling & McCarthy had ample 
means on which to begin anew. 

Among the bankers of the city there were no weak ones. 

As soon as the first necessary relief was brought into the city the work of 
clearing the debris was begun. 

NATIVES GIVEN PREFERENCE. 

In allotting work preference, of course, was given to old San Franciscans. 
No country in the world has a higher percentage of skilled labor than San Fran- 
cisco. 

As things became straightened out skilled mechanics were invited in from 
other places. It was the most marvelous transformation scene upon which the 
world has ever gazed. 

The modeling of the new San Francisco was placed largely in the hands of 
Daniel H. Burnham, originator of the "Burnham plan" for the improvement and 
adornment of the city of the Golden Gate. 

Instead of adornment and improvement, however, the problem was one of 
complete reconstruction. 



EARTHQUAKES 217 

In the eyes of the architect and the designer of cities the calamity had been 
mixed with benefit. A clear field for work along modern lines had been left by 
the earthquake. 

Existing obstacles to the execution of bold plans had been swept away. The 
alert, far-sighted men who banded together January, 1904, in San Francisco un- 
der the name of the Improvement and Adornment Society at once began dream- 
ing of a city to rival the magnificence of Paris as they watched the smoke rising 
from what, a few days before, were homes and skyscrapers. 

PARIS THE MODEL OF THE CITY. 

Aside from the obstacle of the effect on the popular mind, the originators 
of the "Burnham plan" could see nothing in the way of going ahead and carrying 
out arbitrary plans for remodeling the plan of the city and its environs. 

The plans for building the new city were outlined as follows : 

The boulevard system of Paris was to be taken as a general model. A great 
encircling boulevard, giving access to all centers of the city without the necessity 
of passing through the congested districts, was the main feature of the plan. 

San Francisco is built on a peninsula, with water on three sides. It was 
planned to make the engirdling boulevard a broad, dignified, and continuous drive- 
way, skirting the water's edge. 

Within this ring it was planned to have a number of smaller concentric 
rings, separated by boulevards. 

The smallest of these rings, inclosing the civic center — that part of the city 
which plays the most important part in civic life — was located at or near the geo- 
graphical center. 

BOULEVARDS CROSS THE CITY. 

From the inner circuit boulevard diagonal arteries run to every section of the 
city and to the surrounding country. 

They traverse in succession the diminishing circuit boulevards and finally 
reach the center or group of centers, thus forming continuous streets reaching 
from one side of the city to the other. 

In a city as large as San Francisco no one central place is adequate for the 
grouping of all the public buildings. Therefore it was necessary to locate sub- 
centers at intersections of the radial streets with the concentric boulevards. 

At each of these intersections there is a public "place." 

Plans were made for 'another group of buildings, public or private, of monu- 
mental character and of great civic interest relating to matters literary, musical, 
expositional, professional and religious. 

Some of these are the library, opera house, concert hall, municipal theater, 
academy of art, technical and industrial school, museum of art, museum of nat- 
ural history, academy of music, exhibition hall, and assembly hall. 

It was planned that these buildings, placed in economic relation, should face 
on the avenue forming the perimeter of distribution, and on the radial arteries 
within, particularly on public places formed by their intersections. 



218 EARTHQUAKES 

The plans included extensive settings on all sides, contributing to public rest 
and recreation, and adapted to fetes, celebrations, etc. It was considered that by 
being removed from the rush of business activity these buildings gained in repose 
and strengthened the public's sensibility of the dignity and responsibility of citi- 
zenship. 

GREAT RAILWAY STATION. 

On the chief radial line to this place is placed the union railway station, 
forming a vestibule to the heart of the city. Theaters and other places of amuse- 
ment are grouped on one large street near the center, with plenty of room for 
vehicles coming and going. 

The water front and available level ground govern the location and growth 
of the working portion of a maritime city. The docks, wharves, and freight 
houses naturally group on the water front. 

The originators of the plan intended that the water front district should be 
so arranged as to admit of indefinite expansion and connected with a complete 
system of warehouses — served on one hand by railroad tracks or canals and on 
the other by broad roadways. 

It was planned to have the warehouse system so schemed as to connect as di- 
rectlv as possible with the wholesale trade districts and the manufacturing 
quarter. 

The retail quarter follows within easy reach. This district follows in gen- 
eral, in its growth, the residential districts which it serves, limited by the steeper 
grades of the contours. 

The ten miles of water front possessed by San Francisco, it was declared 
by architects, was inadequate to the needs of the future. 

Although there was nothing to check its expansion down the eastern bay 
shore, the value of the frontage decreased in ratio to the distance of its removal 
from the center of the city. 

It was therefore considered necessary to develop as much as possible of the 
water front extending from the ferries to Hunter's point. A system of docks, 
inclosed by a sea wall, is used to triple, or even quadruple the extent of the 
wharfage. 

Where the outer boulevards follow the sea wall it was necessary to connect it 
with that section of the city lying near it and inhabited by the middle classes. 

Where the streets from this section intersect the great boulevard, there are 
piers for public recreation, a yacht and boat harbor, and vast bathing beaches, 
both inclosed and open air. The outer boulevard arranged for this without in- 
terfering with provisions made for shipping. 

RAPID UNDERGROUND TRANSIT. 

Rapid underground transit and a traffic tunnel through Ashbury Heights 
were other features of the plan. 

It was proposed that the main diagonal arteries of the city should be pro- 



M 








UJ 







a 



u 



220 EARTHQUAKES 

vided with underground transportation and that underground loops should be 
excavated under the centers. 

The plan included the construction of at least two underground roads at 
right angles. 

Where steep grades and contour roadways extending around hills were en- 
countered the subway was built as a gallery below the roadway, opening to the 
view, or the car line built on the slope slightly below the roadway. 

The financial center comprises banks, exchanges, insurance buildings, and 
general office structures. 

It was planned to have it easily accessible from the wholesale and retail quar- 
ters and also from the administrative center. 

In the form of a court it is fronted with the most frequented and important 
institutions. The new city was so planned as to make it one of the easiest cities 
in the world "to get around in." 

The park systems, the adornment of the streets by the planting of trees, the 
uniform height of buildings on specified streets, the putting up of statues and 
works of art in public places, the prevention of smoke, and the substitution of 
chains of park squares for unusued back yards — all these things entered into the 
plans that were made for the rebuilding of San Francisco. 

It was planned to make the park chains beautiful examples of the art of the 
landscape gardener where people might walk with comfort and where children 
could play free from danger of traffic. 

CIVIC BUILDINGS FACE COMMONS. 

It had been suggested that cities like Colma, Ocean View and Baden, which 
have become borough centers, reserve large commons on which the civic buildings 
may face. There are many steep hills in San Francisco. In some places the 
streets were laid out at right angles with apparent disregard for the configuration 
of the landscape. 

In the Burnham plan it was suggested that each hill, or succession of hills, 
be circumscribed at its base with a circuit road. These circuits were to be re- 
peated at various heights and connected by easy inclines. Places of interest were 
to be emphasized by terraces with approaches. 

It was recommended that an art commission be given charge of all matters 
especially pertaining to civic art. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
VESUVIUS! 

Beginning of Latest Eruption — Refugees Flock to Naples — Cardinal Furnishes Peasants 
Food — Scientist's Bravery in Face of Almost Certain Death — Naples Shaken to Founda- 
tions — Angry Women Mob a Church — Think . King Effected Miracle — Faced Death from 
Famine — Likened to Dante's Inferno — Search Ruins for the Dead — Scenes of Beauty 
Around Vesuvius — Previous Disasters Due to Vesuvius — Eruptions Gain in Frequency. 

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, 
when she is shaken of a mighty wind. — Rev. 6: 13. 

All the world was shuddering over the horrors, the death and devastation 
caused by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy when the earthquake smote San 
Francisco. At the moment of the earthquake Vesuvius' terrible April eruption 
of 1906 was practically over, but the craters were still smoking and the 1,000,000 
people around the base of the volcano were yet in a panic-stricken state, thou- 
sands of them homeless, hungry and penniless. Americans and others through- 
out the world were raising funds for the relief of the sufferers. The Vesuvian 
situation at that time appeared as follows : 

NAPLES, nine miles from the summit of Vesuvius, crowded with 150,000 refu- 
gees ; city covered with several inches of ashes ; people in panic, but city in 
no danger so far. Many buildings, however, had fallen or their roofs col- 
lapsed, hundreds of persons being killed outright and many more injured. 
TORRE DEL GRECO, seven miles from Naples, 25,000 population ; half buried 
in ashes ; roofs of many houses fallen in ; many buildings collapsed ; deserted. 
BOSCOTRECASE, twelve miles from Naples; 9,000 inhabitants; destroyed by 

lava; people escaped. 
TORRE ANNUNZIATA, twelve miles from Naples, 32,000 people; lava flow 
checked after destruction of suburbs ; only 2,000 people in town, others fled 
to Naples. 
POMPEII, thirteen miles from Naples ; cemetery and few villagers' homes de- 
stroyed ; lava flow checked ; famous ruins untouched. 
OTTAJANO, thirteen miles east of Naples on northeast slope of Vesuvius ; 20,000 
people ; town covered with four feet of ashes and cinders ; ten houses, five 
churches collapsed; 300 persons killed; unknown number injured; prison 
and barracks destroyed; town deserted. 
SAN GUISEPPE, twelve miles from Naples, 6,000 people ; practically destroyed 

by ashes; church collapsed; sixty persons injured. 
PORTICI, four miles from Naples, 9,000 people; partly destroyed; deserted. 
CASERTA, five miles north of Naples, 35,000 people ; menaced by lava streams. 
NOLA, twenty-two miles from Naples, 15,000 people; buried under show- 
ers of ashes. 



222 EARTHQUAKES 

SAN GIORGIO, four miles from Naples, half buried under sand and ashes. 

Altogether about 3,000 people had perished, 300 square miles laid waste and 
$200,000,000 damage done. 

BEGINNING OF LATEST ERUPTION. 

Mount Vesuvius first began to show symptoms of a violent eruption in 1906 
on April 5. Almost always, smoking, red flames shot out of the crater and 
formed a halo on the clouds that alarmed Italians for miles around. Then came 
a succession of earthquake shocks, followed by the emission of lava and great 
volleys of shattered rock from the volcano. 

Boscotrecase, on the southern slope of Vesuvius, nearest the crater, was aban- 
doned, the people seeking safety in flight. The cemetery was invaded by a 
stream of molten lava. 

On the Pompeiian side of the mountain the main stream of lava divided into 
two the following day, one threatening Ottojano, and the other threatening Torre 
del Greco. The latter city had already been destroyed by lava eight times in its 
history and the residents fled at the first approach of the new lava streams. 

PRAY TO AVERT DISASTER. 

Bosco Reale, to the eastward, was also threatened. Women of this village, 
weeping with fright, carried a statue of St. Anne as near as they could go to the 
flowing lava, imploring a miracle to staying the advance of the consuming 
stream. 

The churches were crowded clay and night with people praying for deliver- 
ance from an impending peril, manifestations of which were heard and felt in 
explosions, which resembled a heavy cannonading, and in the tremblings of 
the earth, which were constantly recurring. 

The main stream of lava proceeding from Vesuvius was 200 feet wide, and 
it advanced at times at the rate of twenty-one feet a minute, the intense heat de- 
stroying vegetation before the stream reached it. 

A new crater was burst through the mountain side. This was twenty feet in 
circumference, apparently, and from it the lava flow within two days extended 
down and out on the plain two miles and a half. Hot mud, ashes and black sand 
were also ejected, which, mixed with rain, produced the so-called caustic rain 
which is most damaging to vegetation. 

COLUMN OF FIRE 1,000 FEET HIGH. 

The scene at night was one of mingled grandeur and horror, as from the 
summit of Vesuvius there leaped a column of fire fully a thousand feet in height, 
the glare lighting the sky and sea for many miles. Occasionally great masses 
of molten stone, some weighing as much as a ton, were ejected from the crater. 

April 7 the eruption from Vesuvius increased in violence hourly. New 
craters opened, some opposite Naples. Great quantities of ashes and fine sand 




.»* . ♦. . ♦ ■a: WA»*H.C » . » :M.M.»K«t> ' »t»ttf<«*' « U < i » »H" 



224 EARTHQUAKES 

then began falling in Naples. The mountain was enveloped in a dense mist and 
emitting, besides lava, huge blocks of rock. The upper part of the Funicular 
railway had been destroyed. 

The whole mountain shook from constantly repeating shocks of earthquake. 
Each shock was accompanied by deep and prolonged detonations, and as they in- 
creased in number they grew in severity. 

The lava floods descended from the craters at the summit of the volcano in a 
great fanlike wave, the entire rim of the fan having a radius of twenty miles and 
including four-sevenths of the entire circumference of the base of the volcano. 

GOVERNMENT HELPED PEOPLE FLEE. 

By this time the town of Boscotrecase was surrounded by lava, and streams 
of molten rock were flowing through the town itself. Most of the 9,000 inhab- 
itants had tied. Those who did not escape earlier were vainly trying to find 
vehicles with which to carry away their goods and household belongings. The 
government was sending artillery horses and carts to assist in the transfer of the 
people. 

The town of Torre Annunziata, the first north of the ruins of Pompeii, was 
now threatened with destruction. The rivers of lava coming from the direction 
of Boscotrecase destroyed eighty peasant cottages. The people began to desert 
the town. Extra trains were kept running on the electric road between Naples 
and Torre Annunziata all night in order to carry away the people. 

It was noted that a stream of lava had not reached Torre Annunziata since 
the great eruption of 1834. In fact, not for centuries had a lava flood flowed in 
that direction. 

Another stream of lava was threatening to destroy Torre del Greco, the first 
station on the railroad southeast of Herculaneum. The town was abandoned, the 
people hurriedly removing their goods and household effects. 

The village of Portici, three miles above Torre del Greco, was threatened 
and a similar panic existed there. 

The village of Ottajano, on the opposite side of the mountain, was in danger 
from streams of lava flowing from the old crater. 

The populations of the other towns and villages near the danger zone were 
also panic stricken. Whole families, surrounded by their household goods, 
waited long in the streets, hoping to find a cart, horse, or donkey to help them 
place their possessions beyond danger. 

REFUGEES ALL FLOCKED TO NAPLES. 

The refugees from all the villages on the slopes of the mountain flocked into 
Naples by thousands, on foot, and in vehicles of every description. All the roads 
from Vesuvius were crowded with carbineers, stationed at intervals along the way 
to direct the people fleeing from danger, and to warn them where to avoid danger- 
ous points. 



EARTHQUAKES 225 

Under direction of the duke of Aosta, Governor of Naples, engineers and 
soldiers erected parapets and dug ditches in order to divert the course of the lava 
streams. 

The duke even worked with the pick and shovel himself, in order to set an 
example and to urge his men to greater effort. 

Meantime Vesuvius itself was a colossal brazier. Torrents of liquid fire, 
resembling in the distance serpents with glittering yellow and black scales, were 
coursing in all directions, amid rumblings, detonations, and earth tremblings, 
while a pall of sulphurous smoke, that hovered over all, made breathing dif- 
ficult. 

The streams of lava were resistless. They snapped like pipe stems the 
trunks of chestnut and pine trees hundreds of years old, and blighted with their 
torrid breath the blooms on the peach and apricot trees before the trees them- 
selves had been reached. The molten streams did not spare the homes of the 
peasants, and when these had been razed they dashed into the wells, and, having 
filled them, continued their course down the mountain side. 

CARDINAL OFFERED PEASANTS FOOD. 

Cardinal Joseph Prisco, archbishop of Naples, ordered special prayers of- 
fered for the safety of all who were in danger. Boscoe Reale, one of the villages 
in danger of destruction, is the birthplace of the cardinal and the home of most 
of his relatives. 

The cardinal distributed necessaries of life to the peasants and even went 
so far as to give away the rings he wore on his fingers. Repeatedly he ex- 
claimed to the frightened peasants : "Pray, my children ; you may be sure God 
will not desert you." 

The statue of St. Anne, which was taken to the mountainside to confront 
the lava, was frequently moved backward as the tide advanced. 

KING'S VISIT TO SCENE OF RUIN. 

April 8 King Victor Emmanuel, who was born at Naples and was touched to 
the heart by the affliction of his countrymen, left Rome with Queen Helena 
for the scenes of misery, determined to lend his personal assistance and the 
cheer of his presence to the sufferers. Before departing from Rome he ordered 
Italy's whole Mediterranean fleet to Naples to take orders from the Duke of 
Aosta and assist in embarking refugees at the coast towns. The Italian min- 
ister of finance and many other high officials also hurried to the stricken villages. 

Vesuvius continued to become more destructive. The eruptions, which 
increased with frightful violence, threatened to destroy the entire coast from 
Portici to Pompeii. 

Pompeii, buried under ashes 1,823 years ago, was threatened with engulf- 
ment by lava. A great molten flood, 600 feet wide and 21 feet deep, after sweep- 
ing over the town of Torre Annunziata, approached the ruins of Pompeii at a 



226 EARTHQUAKES 

rapid rate. The cemetery and some houses northwest of the town were de- 
stroyed. 

Countless new craters emitted a molten flood simultaneously, and the at- 
tendant earthquake shocks caused the panic to spread to Naples. Villages were 
blotted out. 

Breathing momentarily became difficult in Naples, because of the poisonous 
fumes and smoke, while the dense shower of hot ashes added to the horror. 

SCIENTIST'S BRAVERY ON VESUVIUS. 

All this time a brave scientist, Dr. Matteuchi, director of the Royal Ob- 
servatory on Mount Vesuvius, sat at his post with an American, Prof. Frank A. 
Ferret, of New York, as his assistant, both men intently studying the phenomena 
and attempting to ascertain, for the sake of the people, whether there was likely 
to be a cessation of the death-dealing eruption. His telegraph line had been 
destroyed, but he mended it at the risk of his life and dispatched to Naples this 
message : 

"The eruption of Vesuvius has assumed extraordinary proportions. Yester- 
day and last night the activity of the crater was terrific and ever increasing. The 
neighborhood of the observatory is completely covered with lava. Incandescent 
rocks thrown by the thousand to a height of 2,400 and even 3,000 feet, fell back, 
forming a large cone. Another stream of lava has appeared from a fissure, the 
position of which is not well defined. 

"The noise of explosions and rocks striking together is deafening. The 
ground is shaken by strong and continuous seismic movements." 

The situation everywhere grew worse. Ashes were falling over a large part 
of southern Italy, even the east coast. Two strong earthquake shocks, which 
shattered windows and cracked the walls of the buildings in Naples, were expe- 
rienced. A church filled with people collapsed, and thirty were killed and 200 
injured. The entire population rushed to the streets, many persons crying, ''The 
Madonna has forsaken us ; the end of the world has come." No trace remained 
of Boscotrecase. 

The atmosphere everywhere about Vesuvius was heavily charged with elec- 
tricity, and now and then the flashes of lightning were blinding, while the deto- 
nations from the volcano resembled those of terrible explosions. 

HORRORS OF THE PEOPLE'S FLIGHT. 

At this stage of the eruption a daring tourist who visited the districts 
of Boscotrecase and Torre Annunziata described what he saw as follows : 

"Along the road I met hundreds of families in flight, carrying a few 
miserable possessions. The spectacle of collapsed carts and fainting women 
was frequent. When one reached the lava streams a stupefying spectacle 
presented itself. From a point on the mountain between two towns I 
watched four rivers of molten fire, one of which was 200 feet wide and over 




zn 



228 EARTHQUAKES 

40 feet deep, moving slowly and majestically onward, devouring vineyards 
and olive groves. I witnessed the destruction of a farmhouse, which was 
enveloped on three sides by lava. 

"Immediately overhead the great crater was belching incandescent rocks 
and scoriae for an incredible distance. The whole summit was wreathed in 
flames and a perpetual roar was heard. Ever and anon the cone of the vol- 
cano was encircled with vivid electric phenomena, amid which the down- 
pour of liquid fire on all sides of the crater was revealed. 

"In the evening there was a frightful shock of earthquake, which was 
repeated. Simultaneously lava streams were redoubled and there was a 
rush of men, women, and children as they fled precipitately towards the 
sea. The lava had invaded the road behind them." 



VEGETATION SHRIVELED AND BURNED. 

Another tourist, who went to the scenes of devastation earlier, gave this 
account of his perilous trip : 

"As nothing could be seen from Naples owing to the dense, black pall of 
sand, half of Naples hurried to the threatened town by railway, electric tram- 
way, motor car, and country cart. It was difficult enough to obtain a ticket and 
infinitely more difficult to obtain a seat in trains, although the service had been 
trebled. 

"As far as the picturesque town of Portici the country lay desolate under 
a shroud of sand. Not a blossom could be seen on the withered trees and not 
a scrap of fodder on the ground for the cattle. Along the railway the people 
of the towns through which it passed stood watching with mournful surprise the 
procession of crowded trains. 

"When we reached Boscotrecase at 4 p. m. we found only two or three 
houses outside of town had yet been destroyed, although with them vast tracts 
of vineyards had been devastated. The upper houses in the town which stand 
on the slopes of the volcano had been deserted, but the inhabitants were return- 
ing, as the stream of lava which had threatened them had ceased to advance. The 
second stream, however, was moving forward, but was not dangerous. This 
second stream surrounded and destroyed a cottage, but strangely enough a ma- 
jestic pine tree stood unhurt in its midst. Elsewhere as the stream flowed slowly 
onwards three trees in its course shriveled up and burst into flames." 

The same tourist afterward described the effect of the second stream of lava. 
"Running like water," he said, "the revived stream reached the western end of 
town and in ten minutes destroyed twenty or thirty houses. The inhabitants fled 
from their beds. The two streams later united between Boscotrecase and Torre 
Annunziata. Their width was at least 3,000 feet, and their depth 10. After 
destroying the watchman's house the lava crossed the railway, which runs round 
the base of Vesuvius, covering it for a width of 250 feet and wrecking trolley 
posts, wires and telephone posts." 



EARTHQUAKES 229 

VOLCANO ABATED, THEN GREW WORSE. 

April 9 was but a repetition of the day before, until late in the afternoon, 
when Vesuvius' wrath seemed to be appeased. The rain of rock ceased, the lava 
tide stopped and the people began to hope the eruption was over. This, how- 
ver, was not the case. With redoubled fury the volcano began belching out its 
fiery flood before dawn of April 10. At 2 a. m. the mountain was shaken by 
terrific explosions that were felt plainly in Naples. When daylight came and 
the cloud above the mountain partly cleared it was discovered that the outline 
of Vesuvius was strangely altered. The whole cone of the mountain had been 
blown away. It was estimated that the summit was 600 feet lower than before 
the eruption began. 

Prof. Di Lorenzo, the specialist in the study of volcanoes, estimated that the 
smoke from Vesuvius reached the height of 25,000 feet. It was said, too, that 
the ashes in places at Ottajano were 150 feet deep. The entire town was buried 
under ashes and cinders to a depth of four feet. The prison and the army 
barracks had been destroyed. Five churches and ten houses had fallen under 
the weight of ashes and cinders. The village was completely deserted by its 
people. 

San Giorgio and Torre del Greco were half buried in ashes and sand and the 
roofs of many houses had fallen in or were collapsing. 

The most of the buildings in the villages were of flimsy construction and 
had flat roofs, and so were but poorly calculated to bear the weight of ashes and 
cinders that fell on them. 

500,000 PEOPLE HOMELESS. 

By this time fully 500,000 persons were homeless and destitute of clothes and 
provisions. At least 150,000 of these refugees had flocked into the already 
crowded city of Naples. The others were camping in the roads and fields with- 
out shelter, nearly blinded by ashes, wet to the skin by the rain, and terrorized 
by the constant explosions of the volcano over their heads and the shocks of 
earthquake beneath their feet. 

The refugees poured into Naples in every kind of conveyance and on foot. 
The roads were crowded with processions of men and women carrying crosses 
and crying piteously. All the trains were carrying the fugitives without charge 
and were crowded to the limit. Thousands of soldiers, with artillery carts, am- 
munition wagons, and ambulances were -assisting the evacuation. 

ANGRY WOMEN MOBBED A CHURCH. 

At many places the" people were suffering from panic, and a state of great 
confusion existed, which was added to by superstition. Some of the parish 
priests refused to open their churches to people who tried to obtain admittance, 
fearing that an earthquake would destroy the buildings when full of people, and 
thus increase the list of disasters. Crowds of women thereupon attacked the 



230 EARTHQUAKES 

churches, pulled down the doors, and took possession of the pictures and statues 
of the saints, which they carried about as a protection against death. 

Special railway trains, warships, and steamers were employed in cpnveyin'g 
the homeless people to Naples, Rome, and Castellammare, while large numbers 
of people fled overland in the direction of Caserta. 

Not less than 15,000 refugees reached Castellammare, where the steamer 
Princess Mafalda was anchored. This vessel left the island of Capri with 
1,000 passengers, including many foreigners, on board, but was unable to reach 
its destination owing to the stiffling clouds of ashes and the fumes of gases from 
the volcano, which enveloped the ship a mile from the coast. 

ASK KING TO STAY VOLCANO. 

King Victor Emmanuel and Queen Helena reached Naples April 9 and imme- 
diately set out for the destroyed towns, the king saying : "If Torre Annunziata 
is in danger it is my duty to be there." 

The Duke and Duchess of Aosta and the Princess of Schleswig-Holstein, 
who was a guest of the Duke and Duchess of Aosta, joined the king and queen 
in their visit to the afflicted districts. The royal party went first to Torre An- 
nunziata and the king everywhere along the way was received with the most 
touching manifestations of gratitude, amidst cheers and weeping, expressions of 
thanks, and frantic gasticulations of joy. The king forbade the police and 
carbineers to keep the people away from him, so that all could approach him. 
The women kissed the king's hand and the queen's gown, exclaiming, "God sent 
you to us." One of the women, addressing the king, cried : 

"If thou art our king, order the volcano to stop !" 

THINK KING EFFECTED MIRACLE. 

The people of Torre Annunziata were tremendously excited, women espe- 
cially being in a state of panic. Then the rumor was started to the effect that 
the visit of the king had resulted in a miracle. Singularly enough, shortly after 
the arrival of the sovereigns, and while the king and queen were trying to con- 
sole the people, repeating frequently, "Courage ! Be strong," the wind sud- 
denly changed and the atmosphere, which up to that moment had been impreg- 
nated wifh sulphurous gas and suffocating fumes, cleared away and the sun 
burst forth, the stream of lava stopped its march, after having destroyed a sec- 
tion of the northeast part of the suburb and the adjacent cemetery. 

The air rang with benedictions for the king. Hope at once returned and 
the king and queen were preparing to move on, but the people insisted that they 
remain, begging that they be not abandoned, but the king wished to visit other 
distressed villages, and so returned to Naples, whence he set out in an automobile 
for a tour of the devastated districts. 

The king and queen visited Santa Anastasia, Cercola, Somma and Vesuciana, 
arousing the same enthusiasm among the people as when they first reached the 
scene of the disaster. 



232 EARTHQUAKES 

KING FORCED TO WADE IN ASHES. 

At a certain point the king and his suite, who occupied several automobiles, 
were struck by a small cyclone of ashes and cinders, which partly blindeu, 
choked and stopped them. 

As the king's motor car was the first and was some distance ahead of the 
cars in which the members of his suite were riding, it was lost sight of for some 
time in the clouds of whirling ashes, and considerable anxiety was felt for his 
majesty's safety, but it was seen presently that the king had ordered his automo- 
bile to be driven at full speed ahead, and so crossed the path of the cyclone with 
great rapidity. 

A short distance further on. however, the ashes were four feet deep, making 
it impossible for the royal party to continue their route in the motor cars. Con- 
sequently the king and his suite descended and continued their way on foot until 
conveyances could be obtained to take them back to Naples. 

SPREAD DISASTER IN NAPLES. 

When Vesuvius became most violent April 10, the rain of sand and 
ashes threatened to bury Naples itself, with its population of 500,000 and 
its 150,000 refugees. It was feared that the weight of ashes" on roofs would 
cause the collapse of many more buildings both in Naples and in the towns 
and villages nearer the volcano. 

In Naples that day the terror of the residents and the refugees who 
thronged the streets was turned into frenzy by a disaster which cost at 
least a dozen lives and through which scores were injured. At a moment 
when citizens, lulled into hopefulness by a distinct lessening of the erup- 
tion, were giving praise in churches and street processions, a roof thrown 
over Mount Oliveto market to ward off the rain of ashes collapsed, burying 
more than 200 persons. The throng in the market consisted chiefly of 
women and children, and the scenes following the collapse were pitiful. 

Twelve persons were killed outright, two were fatally and twenty-four 
dangerously hurt. More than a hundred others were more or less seriously 
injured. 

FELL ON HOLIDAY CROWD. 

The market place, covering 600 square feet and surrounded by stalls, 
had temporarily been roofed to protect the shoppers from the falling ashes. 
The space within was unusually crowded with buyers and their children, the 
accident happening at the hour of the day when trade is most brisk. 

Little children played about the stands, adding gayety to a scene the 
like of which is not to be witnessed outside of Naples. Suddenly, with 
scarcely a tremor of warning, there was a terrifying crash, and the brilliant 
sights disappeared in a cloud of dust, while shrieks of agony rent the air. 

At the moment of the disaster religious processions were passing 
through the streets of the city, the people desiring to render thanks to the 



EARTHQUAKES 233 

Almighty for having apparently averted much greater disasters than those 
hitherto recorded. Here and there these processions wended their way with 
images of the Madonna or saints dressed in most gorgeous robes of cheap 
blue or yellow satin, borne above seas of dark heads, mostly those of 
women. 

FACED DEATH FROM FAMINE, 

April ii Vesuvius reached the climax of the eruption. Ashes fell on 
Naples to a depth of four inches. That night the city was plunged in utter 
darkness. The Neapolitans were in a state of frenzied panic. During the 
day manufactories and shops were shut down and cafes, theaters, and all 
places of amusement closed. The crowds were in a mood for any excess. 
There had been threatening demonstrations. The city, consequently, was 
divided into four districts, each commanded by a general. Troops under 
arms were held at all the principal squares. 

To the horrors of the devastation wrought by the volcano was added 
the menace of famine. There were nearly 200,000 refugees in Naples. 
Thousands were arriving daily to swell the numbers in the already over- 
crowded city. 

The problem of housing and feeding 200,000 refugees was the gravest 
feature of the situation. The distress was appalling. 

OPENS PALACES TO THE HOMELESS. 

Relief work on a gigantic scale was necessary. King Victor Emman- 
uel returned to Naples and, with Premier Sonnino, assumed personal direc- 
tion of the relief work. The king at once ordered the royal palaces of San 
Ferdinando and Cappodimonte thrown open to the homeless and wounded 
refugees. 

In the midst of that desperate situation Prof. Matteucci wired the duke 
of Aosta from the royal observatory : 

"The situation of myself and the carbineers in the observatory was 
grave throughout the night. Up to 8 o'clock this morning the observatory 
was enveloped in dense showers of sand, but the volcano is now calmer. The 
seismic instruments show quieter records than yesterday. 

"If my words could influence the population they would be words of en- 
couragement and sympathy, for I am most confident that Vesuvius will soon 
return to its normal conditions." 

Yet, in spite of these reassuring conditions,- the situation was alarming 
enough to excite keen apprehension. From all quarters came reports of 
the accumulation of ashes, the flight of the terror stricken inhabitants of 
towns and villages, the collapse of buildings, the insufficiency of the relief 
measures, hunger, and discouragement. It was no longer possible to reach 
the points which had suffered most severely. Even the soldiers detailed to 
guard the ruins at Ottajano had been recalled and the town had been left to 



234 EARTHQUAKES 

its fate. Its houses continued to fall and the villages in its neighborhood 
were nothing but ruins. Prisoners in jails on the mountain side went mad 
with terror and mutinied. 

So widespread was the catastrophe that it was estimated it would re- 
quire an organized body of 100,000 men and the expenditure of many mil- 
lions of dollars to raze houses made unsafe for habitation by the accumula- 
tion of ashes and cinders on the roofs, erect temporary huts of refuge for 
the thousands who had fled from their homes, clear the roofs of buildings 
that might yet be saved, and extricate from the ruins of fallen structures and 
bury the dead. 

LIKENED TO DANTE'S INFERNO. 

An explorer who visited the towns around the base of Vesuvius that day 
described his experiences thus : 

"I took a train for Torre Annunziata. On arriving at Torre del Greco the 
heavens seemed to open and we were soon half buried in ashes and hot 
cinders. The train drew up in total darkness, relieved only by lightning 
flashes. Thus we waited events. Soon the darkness took purple and yellow 
tinges, the detonations became louder than the loudest thunder clap, and the 
ashes burned our eyes. 

"It was a perfect picture of Dante's inferno. The train could not proceed, 
so thick were the ashes on the track, and just at this point the train broke in 
half, and the poor women fugitives, thinking they were about to lose their 
lives, began to chant litanies for the dead, giving a last weird touch to the 
infernal scene. 

"Carbineers came to our rescue and proposed to take us to the sea. We 
then found we were on a bridge, with the sea on one side and Torre Del Greco 
on the other hand. In the darkness we descended, hand in hand, forming a 
human rope, and a false step would have meant death. The port was so choked 
with ashes that small boats could not navigate. 

"Wearily we trudged back to the station, to find there was no prospect of 
another train. We had then teen five hours in that plight; so, seeing that heroic 
measures were necessary, with a companion, I trudged miles in two or three feet 
of ashes to Portici, where finally we found a cab which brought us to Naples. 

"Since the Chicago fire I have seen nothing so terribly impressive. Twenty 
vears will not repair the damage, including the destruction of four whole vil- 
lages." 

KING REBUKED PRIEST WHO FLED. 

April 12 was another black day. The wind blew clouds of ashes and im- 
mense volumes of gas from the craters directly down into Naples. The people 
could scarcely breathe. Asphyxiation stared in the face every one of the 650,- 
000 people there. But in this perilous situation King Victor Emmanuel resolved 
again to visit Ottajano. He started for the town. At a certain point his 
majesty was obliged to abandon his motor car, and went forward on horseback, 



236 EARTHQUAKES 

amid constant danger, his horse floundering through four feet of ashes, 
stumbling into holes, blinded by the fall of large cinders, and the target for fall- 
ing basaltic masses. 

In the presence of the king 129 bodies were extricated from the ruins of 
Ottajano, while ashes and red sand were falling as if they were determined not 
to relinquish their victims. The king was deathly pale. 

To a priest who came to him, he said: ''How did you escape?" 

"I placed myself in safety," replied the priest. 

"What do you mean?" asked the king. 

"Realizing the danger," was the priest's reply, "I had left for Nola." 

The king flushed with anger. "What!" he cried, "you, a minister of God, 
were not here to share the danger of your people and administer the last sacra- 
ments ! You did wrong." 

The king made a tour of a large part of the desolated district, visiting the 
camp hospitals to console and cheer the injured. 

SUBSIDES AFTER BURST OF FURY. 

The following day the eruption appeared to be at an end. Prof. Matteucci 
wired the governor of Naples cause for hope. 

"The activity of Vesuvius and the agitation of the surface of the volcano 
have sensibly diminished," he telegraphed. "Electric discharges have ceased and 
the discharge is less abundant. From the presumed formation of the crater ana 
'other indications, and if the news coming to me is true of the cessation of lava 
at Boscotrecase, I predict, with reserve, that in two or three days volcanic calm 
will reign." 

Another day of calm passed. Then, at 4 a. m., April 15, Vesuvius belched 
out tremendous torrents of fire. But this madness of the monster was of short 
duration. In the afternoon the volcano became quiet and within two days more 
was in repose. 

300 SQUARE MILES DESOLATE. 

It was then possible to ascertain the extent of the damage. It was foun'd 
that 300 square miles of fertile lands, formerly covered with farms, gardens, vine- 
yards, had been overwhelmed by masses of lava, sand, cinders and ashes. 

This strip of territory, ten miles wide and thirty miles long, ten days ago 
was a garden of rare beauty and fertility. It contained a score of villages and 
thousands of happy, peaceful rural homes. Now it was blotted out. It was a 
wilderness, as dreary as any in the desolate lands of Sahara. In all this waste 
there was no sign of life or vegetation. The people had abandoned it. 

SEARCH RUINS FOR THE DEAD. 

Soldiers and thousands of others began searching the ruins and digging out 
the dead. At some points the ashes were ten feet deep, reaching to the windows 
of the second stories of the few hovels still standing. At other spots the ashes 



EARTHQUAKES 237 

were 150 feet. Hundreds of dead were uncovered and given Christian burial. 
Hundreds of others probably were never found. 

The scene at Ottajano when the first victims were unearthed there was 
most terrible. The positions of the bodies showed that the victims had died while 
in a state of great terror, the faces being convulsed with fear. Three bodies 
were found in a confessional of one of the fallen churches. Other bodies which 
were found later caused such an impression among the already frantic population 
that the authorities did not deem it advisable to permit any more bodies to be 
identified for the present. Entire families perished in the town and terrible scenes 
occurred when refugees returned in search of missing relatives whose bodies 
are unrecognizable. 

OLD WOMEN ALIVE IN RUINS. 

A sensational development occurred during the work of salvage at Ottajano 
when the searchers unearthed two aged women, still alive, but speechless, after 
six days' entombment. They were among the hundreds who were crushed be- 
neath the falling walls during the rain of stones and ashes on Sunday and Mon- 
day. Hope had been abandoned of finding any of these persons alive. The 
women were protected by the rafters of the house which they were in and had 
managed tc exist on a few morsels of food which they had in their pockets. 

Money for the relief of the sufferers poured in by large sums. The king 
gave $20,000, the Duchess of Aosta $5,000, the government $20,000, the munici- 
pality and Bank of Naples each $20,000; the municipality of Milan, $10,000; the 
municipality of Rome, $4,000, and the cities of Florence, Genoa, Bologna, 
Palermo, and Turin, $2,000 each. The Banco Commerciale di Milona gave 
$6,000. 

In America many cities, notably New York and Chicago, contributed large 
sums to relieve the sufferers. 

SCENES OF BEAUTY AROUND VESUVIUS. 

In order to understand the situation when the eruption began, a knowledge of 
the country around Vesuvius is necessary. Naples and its bay are noted as being- 
second only to Constantinople in natural beauty. A road twenty miles long, 
commencing at Naples, extends southeastwardly along the shore of the bay and 
then, winding inland, completely encircles the mountain. This is dotted with 
villages, all within hearing of the volcanic rumblings and bellowings of Vesuvius. 

Four miles down the bay road from Naples lay Portici, its population dwell- 
ing peacefully on lava thrown down to the sea by the eruption of 1631. On this 
black bed stands the royal palace, built by Charles III., in 1738. Resina, one 
mile farther, is the favorite suburban seat of wealthy Neapolitans. Its 14,000 
residents dwell partly on the ruins of Herculaneum and of Retina, to which 
latter city Pliny the elder set out during the great eruption which destroyed 
these cities and Pompeii. 

Sixteen times has the burning mountain overwhelmed Torre del Greco, two 
and a half miles farther on ; yet within four and a half miles from its destroyer 



238 EARTHQUAKES 

the seventeenth town flourishes with 25,000 population. This little city has been 
the sorest sufferer from Vesuvius, each lava flood drying and forming the rocky 
foundation for new edifices. There 'is a saying among the Neapolitans, "Naples 
commits sins and Torre pays for them." 

After the eruption of 1861 an earthquake fissure in the streets of this ill- 
fated town was descended by men who found themselves inside a church buried 
by the products of a previous eruption. Torre del Greco is the center of the 
Mediterranean coral fishery and is surrounded by rich vineyards as well as fruit 
orchards. From its grapes some of the choicest wines of Italy are made, notably 
the Lachrvmae Christi. 



BURIAL OF POMPEII AND OTHER DISASTERS BY VESUVIUS. 

Previous to the year A. D. 63, Vesuvius was not recognized by the Greeks 
and Romans as an active volcano; At that time the summit was a large crater, 
for centuries regarded as totally extinct. The first warning of renewed erup- 
tion within historic times was the earthquake of 63. Moderate earthquakes 
followed at intervals until the disturbance culminated in the great catastrophe 
of 79, destroying not only Pompeii and Herculaneum, but Stabiae, Retina, and 
Oplontum. 

Pompeii was situated on the shore of the bay of Naples, within a short 
distance of the foot of Mount Vesuvius. At the time of its burial it was a 
town of Campania. As a town of the living it had no great reputation except 
as a resort for Roman nobles and comparatively little is known of it, but as the 
most remarkable relic of antiquity in existence its fame now is world wide. 

The wonders of this ancient city and the horror of its destruction have 
made appeal to hundreds of thousands of English speaking people through 
Bulwer Lytton's splendid romance, "The Last Days of Pompeii." 



TRAGIC HISTORY OF POMPEII. 

Pompeii, like most of the cities in the beautiful country of that region, had 
a mixed population. A seaport town, it was cosmopolitan to a degree. Its 
origin is quite uncertain, but it passed in and out of the possession of many 
nations before it was finally conquered by the Romans after a long siege in 
89 B. C. 

Before the end of the republic Pompeii became the suburban home of 
many of the Roman nobles, who built beautiful villas in the neighborhood and 
greatly popularized the city among people of high degree. Cicero was one 
prominent occasional resident, and his letters frequently mention with enthu- 
siasm his villa there. 

Under the Roman empire the same custom continued, and during the first 
century of the Christian era it was a flourishing place with a considerable pop- 
ulation. 



240 EARTHQUAKES 

PRACTICALLY DESTROYED, THEN REBUILT. 

Only two historic events are recorded of the city during this period. The 
first was a fight in the amphitheater between visitors from the neighboring 
colony of Nuceria and the citizens of Pompeii, in which many were killed and 
wounded. As a result of this all gladiatorial and theatrical exhibitions were 
prohibited there for ten years. This was in 59 A. D. 

Four years later the city was practically destroyed by earthquake. All 
the neighboring towns were injured by this disturbance, but Pompeii was the 
most severely affected. Most of the public buildings and very many of the 
private residences were destroyed or so badly injured that they had to be re- 
built. This work of restoring the city was actively under way when, in a day, 
the whole life of the city was wiped out and the very location of the flourishing 
little colony was lost, to remain so for many centuries. 

BURIED WITH HERCULANEUM. 

In 79 A. D., Vesuvius, which had been slumbering for unknown ages, 
suddenly burst into terrific eruption. Vast masses of earth and ashes were 
thrown into the air and fell in a great shower over the surrounding country, 
and lava spouted from the mountain's crater. The whole country was vio- 
lently disturbed. Devastation was wrought all around the shores of the gulf 
and the two cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were completely buried under 
dense masses of cinders and ashes. 

The cities were destroyed in a different manner, however. Over Hercu- 
laneum there came a solid mass of volcanic tufa that obliterated it. Upon 
Pompeii there fell from eighteen to twenty feet of cinders, small stones, and 
ashes thrown out by the volcano. It has been established that this was all 
done by one eruption, though there are two distinct strata, the lower one of 
the stones and the heavier materials and the upper of fine white ash, which 
is often consolidated by the action of water. 

PEOPLE ENTOMBED WHILE ALIVE. 

The devastation was at least so sudden that the inhabitants had no 
chance to escape. They were caught like rats in a trap in their houses, in 
the streets, and in public buildings. Only a few blind people, familiar by the 
sense of feeling, were able to make their escape, the city being covered, it is 
believed, with a pall of blackness like the darkest night. People were over- 
come at their work and fell where they stood. Soon their bodies were covered 
with the fine ashes. As decay set in these ashes absorbed the liquids and a 
sort of petrification took place. In many cases a shell was formed from which 
an accurate mold of the bodies could be cast. 

Some of the Roman soldiers, standing on guard, did not desert their posts 
and were slowly buried alive. Their remains are found today where they died 



EARTHQUAKES 241 

standing at attention, almost as unmoving as the shells of their bodies have 
been through the long centuries. 

CITY UNCOVERED CENTURIES LATER. 

So entirely did this coating hide the city that its site was forgotten, and 
ancient topographers looked in vain for it. There were important changes in 
the topography of the country that helped to make its location difficult, and it 
was not till 1748 that it was accidentally discovered that the vineyards and 
mulberry grounds of the modern Italy covered the buried city at a point near 
the foot of the mountain. Herculaneum had been discovered before this, but, 
owing to the nature of its burial, its remains were infinitely less perfect and 
harder to get at than those of Pompeii. 

Systematic exploration of the latter city began in 1755, though the work 
was not regular in character or scientifically thorough until the first years of 
the nineteenth century, when the French government began to take part in 
the work. 

The work of uncovering this ancient city is still under way. It has of late 
years been under the direction of Sig. Fiorelli, and has been carefully and 
thoroughly done. Photography has given important aid, and an accurate and 
complete idea of the ancient city is now at the service of all. 

DISCLOSES ART OF THE ROMANS. 

The town was irregularly oval in shape and was situated on a small ele- 
vation about a mile from the outer cone of Vesuvius, the hill evidently created 
by a previous outpouring of lava from the volcano. Before the great eruption 
its base was laved by the water of the bay, but the town is today more than a 
mile inland. The city was surrounded by a turreted wall, which is still pre- 
served, and was quite regular in its plan, the generally narrow streets being 
nearly all straight and running at right angles. Only about two-fifths of the 
whole town has been excavated, but the excavations undoubtedly cover the 
most important parts and are sufficient to give a pretty exact estimate of the 
entire city. 

The architectural and art remains that have been disclosed on the site of 
Pompeii are of remarkable interest and much beauty. They have given the 
world a picture of the life of eighteen centuries ago that was impossible before. 
The decorations of the houses, the works of sculpture, the pub- 
lic buildings, the baths, theaters, forum, and amphitheater, a hun- 
dred phases of that ancient life, have been brought to light in a wonder- 
fully fine state of preservation. Even the bodies of the terrified inhabitants 
have been in a hundred of instances so preserved by the peculiar alkali cover- 
ing that even their features were accurately preserved. No documents have 
yet been found in the ruins, though some inscriptions have, but the whole city 
is a document of inestimable value and interest, and itself tells a thrilling story 
of the terrific tragedy that blotted out its busy life in an hour. 



242 EARTHQUAKES 

The only modern inhabitants of Pompeii are the caretakers and guides 
placed there by the Italian government and who, for 2 francs, show the tour- 
ists the ruins of the ancient forum, the amphitheater, the temple of Apollo, the 
homes of some of them fully equipped with the domestic utensile, etc., of the 
days when Pompeii was in its glory, the statues, jewelry, and a thousand and 
one things that have been uncovered. 

FEARFUL ERUPTIONS SINCE THAT OF 79. 

Often, since the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius 
has given evidence of its subterranean might. Of the succession of ancient erup- 
tions which followed that depicted by Bulwer, the most severe fell in 203, 472, 
512 and 993. The first recorded discharge of lava since the last days of Pompeii 
occurred in 1036, or thirty years before the Normans conquered England. 

The first great modern eruption was that of 163 1, eleven years after the 
Pilgrim fathers landed on Plymouth rock. For a long time before this outburst 
the peaceful crater had become so overgrown with vegetation that it offered a 
jungle for wild boars, while cattle grazed on the slopes a little below. But a 
sudden tidal wave of lava, utterly unexpected, engulfed 18,000 people, many of 
the coast towns being wholly and the remainder partially wiped out. 

Another outburst in 1676 was remarkable for having thrown a perpendicular 
stream of lava high in the air. 

From scattering eruptions in ancient, medieval and early modern times the 
outbursts had increased to nine in the seventeenth century. The eighteenth was 
to increase this to twenty-six. 

MADE NAPLES DARK AT NOON. 

In 1707 the volcano sent forth a cloud of ashes so dense that at midday in 
the streets of Naples the blackness of the darkest night reigned supreme. The 
shrieks of terror-stricken women pierced the air, and the churches were crowded 
by the populace. The relics of San Januarius — his skull among them — were car- 
ried in procession through the streets. 

Thirty years later a stream of lava one mile wide and containing 300,000,000 
cubic feet burst from the mountain side. The next notable eruption was that of 
1760, when new cones formed at the side and gave forth lava, smoke, and ashes. 
Seven years later the King of Naples hastily retreated into the capital from the 
palace at Portici, threatened by a fresh outburst, and found the Neapolitans again 
in confusion. 

Thirty-two years later, while our patriot fathers were in the midst of their 
struggle for freedom, a column of liquid fire burst from the crater and rose to 
three times the height of the mountain. 

ERUPTIONS GAIN IN FREQUENCY. 

That the Vesuvian eruptions are gaining in frequency is attested by the 
record of the nineteenth century, surpassing as it does that of the eighteenth. 




CQ 



CD 



244 



EARTHQUAKES 



The first of note occurred in 1822, when the top of the great cone fell in and a 
lava stream a mile in width poured out. Vapor, condensed into rain, inundated 
some districts. Altogether 800 feet of the cone was blown away, leaving a hole 
93S feet deep in the crater. Twelve years later a river of lava nine miles long 
wiped out a town of 500 houses. One stream threatened Pompeii with another 
interment. 

Lava flowed almost to the gates of Naples in 1855 and caused a deplorable 
loss of property to the cultivated region above. Twelve years later a new cone 
was raised to a height greater than that attained by any in historic times. 

Blocks of stone forty-five feet in circumference were hurled down the moun- 
tain by the spectacular outburst of 1872. Two lava floods rushed down the 
valley on two sides, ashes were shot thousands of feet in the air, and the sea 
rose for miles. More than 20,000,000 cubic feet of lava was ejected in a single 
day. A cloud of smoke enveloped parties of tourists escorted by guides. They 
were caught under a hail of burning projectiles and close to a lava torrent. An 
unknown number, including eight medical students, w'ere buried beneath this 
seething stream. Two dead bodies were picked up and eleven victims found still 
alive. 

Since 1879 Vesuvius has been variously active, there being two eruptions of 
note in 1900; two others in 1903. But that of the present autumn has been more 
violent than any since 1872.' Red hot stones hurled 1,600 feet above the cone 
have dropped down the flanks of the mountain with deafening sound. One stone 
thrown out weighed two tons, while 1.844 violent explosions have b~<?n re' 
corded in a single day by the instruments of the seismic observatory. 




THE SPRECKI.es MUSIC STAND IN GOLDEN GATE PARK, 'FRISCO. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
CHARLESTON WRECKED BY EARTHQUAKE. 

City Laid in Ruins After Tremors Lasting Three Months — Many Killed and Immense 
Damage Done — Earth Undulates Constantly for Long Period — Scores of Women and 
Children Buried in Debris. 

And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that 
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? — Rev., 6: 
16, 17. 

CHARLESTON QUAKE HELD RECORD. 

Before the San Francisco earthquake the shock at Charleston, S. C, 
August 31, 1886, was the greatest disaster of the kind which ever had 
stricken America. Several hundred houses were wholly or partly destroyed, 
and 95 per cent of the buildings in the city were damaged. All but about 
100 out of 14,000 chimneys were thrown to the ground, and forty-four people 
were killed. The damage clone amounted to about $5,000,000. 

Tremors of the earth had been felt at Charleston for three months be- 
fore. On the day of the great earthquake there were seventeen shocks. The 
main shock came at 9:51 o'clock at night. 

"There was a sound," said an observer, "that seemed to come from the 
office below, and was supposed for a moment to be caused by the rolling of a 
heavy body, as an iron safe or a heavily laden truck, over the floor. Accom- 
panying the sound was a perceptible tremor of the building. 

SHOCK A CONTINUOUS JAR. 

"For perhaps two or three seconds the occurrence excited no surprise or 
comment. Then, by swift degrees, or all at once, it is difficult to say which, 
the sound deepened in volume, the tremor became more decided, the ear 
caught the rattle of window sashes, gas fixtures, and other movable objects; 
the men in the office glanced hurriedly at each other and sprang to their feet. 
And then all was bewilderment and confusion. 

"The long roll deepened and spread into an awful roar that seemed 
to pervade at once the troubled earth and the still air above and around. 
The tremor was now a rude, rapid quiver that agitated the whole lofty, 
strong walled building at though it was being shaken — shaken by the hand 
of an immeasurable power, with the intent to tear its joints asunder and scat- 
ter its stones and bricks abroad. There was no intermission in the vibration. 

"From the first to the last it was a continuous jar, adding force with every 
moment, and, as it approached and reached the climax of its manifestation, it 
seemed that no work of human hands could possibly survive the shocks. 

245 



246 EARTHQUAKES 

The floors were heaving underfoot, the surrounding walls and partitions 
visibly swayed to and fro, the crash of falling masses of stone and brick and 
mortar was overhead and without. 

''For a second or two it seemed that the violent motion was subsiding. 
It increased again and became as severe as before. None hoped to escape. 
The uproar slowly died away in seeming distance. The earth was still and 
O ! the blessed relief of that stillness." 

2,800,000 SQUARE MILES SHAKE. 

The shock was felt at Boston, La Crosse, Wis., in Cuba, and Bermuda. 
The total disturbed area has been estimated at 2,800,000 square miles. The 
vibrations traveled at the rate of three and a quarter miles a second. The 
largest fissures made in the earth were only a few hundred yards in length, 
and, except near river banks, rarely exceeded an inch in width. From many 
fissures water, carrying with it sand and silt, was ejected. 

The effect of earthquakes on different peoples are widely different. The 
Japanese are said while they are taking place to exhibit the greatest calmness. 
The people of Charleston, according to the eye witness already quoted, were 
wild with fright, and "from every quarter rose the shrieks, the prayers and 
wailings of terrified women and children, mingled with the hoarser shouts 
of excited men. 

"On every side were hurrying forms of men and women, bareheaded, 
some almost nude, and all nearly crazy with fear and excitement. A few 
steps away a woman lay prone on the pavement, with upturned face and 
outstretched limbs, none pausing to see whether she was alive or dead." 

The Charleston earthquake is notable in that the shock was continuous 
— something never before known. The whole city rocked like a boat at sea, 
and after the undulations the city settled back to quiet with a shock that tore 
it down. 

When the toll of casualties was taken it was found that hundreds had 
been buried beneath the debris, and heroic work was done under tottering 
walls. Many women and children were taken out unconscious, just as they 
were about to be suffocated. The whole city was a wreck, and it was years 
before the ravages of the mighty seismic disturbance were repaired in full. 
Like other cities which have met great disasters, Charleston was rebuilt 
better and more beautiful. 

CITY ONE OF OLDEST IN AMERICA. 

The city which was wrecked was one of the oldest in America, having 
been founded in 1680 by the English. The town grew rapidly and took its 
place as a city in 1783, when it was incorporated. The earthquake has not 
been its only disaster, for in 1838 a fire destroyed nearly all of the buildings, 
which then were considered marvels of architecture. 

The Civil War was inaugurated at Charleston, April 12, 1861, when the 




oc 



m 



248 



EARTHQUAKES 



bombardment of Fort Sumter began. The Union forces surrendered this 
to the Confederates two days later, and later in the year the war-racked city 
was blockaded and bombarded by a Northern fleet. 

The Union fleet was defeated just outside the city January i, 1863, and 
an attack on Fort Sumter, July 10, of that year, cost the lives of several hun- 
dred persons. The Confederates abandoned the city February 17, 1865, after 
it had been shelled many times and practically ruined. 

The next great blow to Charleston, growing in face of great obstacles, 
was its destruction by the earthquake. Since then the city has grown stead- 
ily. It added to its fame in 1901 by an exposition, and at the time of the 
San Francisco disaster had about 70,000 population. 




THE MISSION-DOLORES. 
Famous Old Spanish Catholic Church, Built Two Centuries Ago. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

JOHNSTOWN'S FATAL FLOOD. 

Disaster Came After Warning— Nearly 2,300 Perish in Deadly Trap— Deluge Rebounds 
and Tire Comes — Gorge at the Railroad Bridge— People Crazed by Their Sufferings. 

And I will shew wonders in heaven above and signs in earth beneath; blood, and fire, 
and vapour of smoke. 

The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before that great and 
notable day of the Lord come. — Acts 2: 19, 20. 

Previous to the year 1900 the Johnstown disaster was the most frightful 
calamity known in the history of the United States. It occurred on Friday, 
May 31, 1889, at 12:45 p. m. Johnstown was situated in the Conemaugh 
Valley in Pennsylvania. It was a town of 30,000 inhabitants. Above it in 
the mountains slept the waters of the Conemaugh Lake, a beautiful body 
of water three and a half miles long and one and a fourth miles wide, formed 
by building a dam across a deep gorge in the mountain. 

With not even a warning shout to apprise the inhabitants the dam gave 
way, and that great mass of water came leaping and tumbling down the 
valley to Johnstown, and the city with its inhabitants was drowned in a 
flood of angry waters. When the deluge subsided where had stood the homes 
of so many happy toilers there were but twisted and shapeless piles of drift- 
wood and the bodies of the dead and dying. 

LOSS OF LIFE NEARLY 2,300. 

From the lake to Johnstown in a straight line was but two and a half 
miles, but following the winding valley the waters had to cover thirteen miles 
before they struck the town. But the flood moved with such terrific speed 
that within a few minutes after the breaking of the dam nearly 2,300 men, 
women and children were lying dead in the wreckage of the city ; millions 
of dollars' worth of property was destroyed, and thousands of people beg- 
gared. 

Hundreds of business buildings and residences were destroyed, and less 
than a score of the structures composing the town were uninjured ; complete 
paralysis followed, and many said, as in the case of Galveston, the city would 
not be rebuilt; hundreds were crazed by their sufferings and never regained 
their reason ; thieves swarmed to the place and looted the bodies of the dead 
until the arrival of several thousand State troops put an end to the carnival 
of crime ; the impoverished survivors were cared for until they could get 
upon their feet again and relief pouring in from everywhere in the shape of 
hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and thousands of carloads of sup- 
plies of all sorts, went to work. 

On the other side of the town is the Stony Creek, which gathers up its 

249 



250 EARTHQUAKES 

own share of the mountain rains and whirls them along toward Pittsburg. 
The awful flood caused by the sudden outpouring of the contents of the 
reservoir, together with the torrents of rain that had already swollen these 
streams to triple their usual violence, is supposed to be the cause of the sud- 
den submersion of Johnstown and the drowning of so many of its citizens. 
The water, unable to find its way rapidly enough through its usual chan- 
nels, piled up in overwhelming masses, carrying before it everything that 
obstructed its onward rush upon the town. 

PEOPLE HAD BEEN WARNED. 

The people of Johnstown had been warned of the impending flood as 
early as I o'clock in the afternoon, but not a person living near the reservoir 
knew that the dam had given way until the flood swept the houses off their 
foundations and tore the timbers apart. Escape from the torrent was im- 
possible. The Pennsylvania Railroad hastily made up trains to get as 
many people away as possible, and thus saved many lives. 

Four miles below the clam lay the town of South Fork, where the South 
Fork itself empties into the Conemaugh River. The town contained about 
2,000 inhabitants, and four-fifths of it was swept away. 

Four miles further down, on the Conemaugh River, which runs parallel 
with the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was the town of Mineral 
Point. It had 800 inhabitants, 90 per cent of the houses being on a flat and 
close to the river. Few of them escaped. 

Six miles further down was the town of Conemaugh, and here alone was 
there a topographical possibility of the spreading of the flood and the break- 
ing of its force. It contained 2,500 inhabitants and was wholly devastated. 

Woodvale, with 2,000 people, lay a mile below Conemaugh, in the flat, 
and one mile further down were Johnstown and its cluster of sister towns, 
Cambria City, Conemaugh borough, with a total population of 30,000. 

On made ground, and stretching along right at the river verge, were the 
immense iron works of the Cambria Iron and Steel Company, which had 
$5,000,000 invested in the plant. 

FLOOD REBOUNDS AND FIRE COMES. 

The great damage to Johnstown was largely due to the rebound of the 
flood after it swept across. The wave spread against the stream of Stony 
Creek and passed over Kernsville to a depth of thirty feet in some places. 

The exact number of the victims of this dreadful .disaster will never be 
known. Bodies were found beyond Pittsburg. The loss of property was 
about $10,000,000. 

All was over in a few moments' time. The flood rushed down the valley 
when released from its prison, swept earth, trees, houses and human beings 
before it, depositing the vast debris in. front of the railroad bridge, which 
formed an impassable barrier to the passage of everything except the vast 



^_JI ; 





~;..J: 








. - , ,.^;^_. .:-'-. ■ 4 



252 EARTHQUAKES 

agent of destruction — the flood — which overflowed it and passed on to wreak 
fresh vengeance below. 

GORGE AT THE RAILROAD BRIDGE. 

One of the most terrible sights was the gorge at the railroad bridge. 
This gorge consisted of debris of all kinds welded into an almost solid mass. 
Here were the charred timbers of houses and the charred and mutilated re- 
mains of human beings. The fire at this point, which lasted until June 3 
and had still some of its vitality left on the 5th, was one of the incidents of 
the Johnstown disaster that has become historic. 

When the great storm of Friday came the dam was again a source of 
uneasiness, and early in the morning the people of Johnstown were warned 
that the dam was weakening. At 1 o'clock in the afternoon the resistless 
flood tore away the huge lumber boom on Stony Creek. This was the real 
beginning of the end. The enormous mass of logs was hurled down upon 
the doomed town. 

Had the logs passed a seven-arch bridge Johnstown might have been 
spared much of its horror. There were already dead and dying, and homes 
had already been swept away, but the dead could only be counted by dozens 
and not yet by thousands. Wedged fast at the bridge, the logs formed an 
impenetrable barrier. People had moved to the second floor of their houses 
and hoped that the flood might subside. There was no longer a chance to 
get away, and had they known what was in store for them the contemplation 
of their fate would have been enough to make them stark mad. 

Only a few hours had elapsed from the time of the breaking of the 
lumber boom when the waters of Conemaugh Lake rushed down upon them. 

RIVER FLOWS THROUGH THE CITY. 

The towering wall of water swooped down upon Johnstown with a force 
that carried everything before it. The blockade backed the water up into 
the town, and as there had to be an outlet somewhere the river made a 
new channel through the heart of the lower part of the city. Again and 
again did the flood hurl itself against the bridge, and each wave carried with 
it houses, furniture and human beings. The bridge stood firm, but the rail- 
way embankment gave way, and fifty people were carried down to their 
deaths in the new break. 

It was now night, and darkness added to the terror of the situation. 
Then came flames to make the calamity all the more appalling. Hundreds 
of buildings had been piled up against the stone bridge. The inmates 
of but few of them had had time to escape. Just how many people were 
imprisoned in that mass of wreckage may never be known, but the number 
was estimated at between 1,000 and 2,000. The wreckage was piled to a 
height of fifty feet, and suddenly flames began leaping up from the summit. 

Shrieks and prayers from the unhappy beings imprisoned in the wrecked 



EARTHQUAKES 253 

houses pierced the air, but little could be done. Men, women and children, 
held down by timbers, watched with indescribable agony the flames creep 
slowly toward them until the heat scorched their faces, and then they were 
slowly roasted to death. 

Those who were held fast in the wreck by an arm or a leg begged pite- 
ously that the imprisoned limb be cut off. Some succeeded in getting loose 
with mangled limbs, and one man cut off his arm that he might get away. 
Those who were able worked like demons to save the unfortunates from the 
flames, but hundreds were burned to death. 

Meanwhile Johnstown had been literally wiped from the face of the 
earth ; Cambria City was swept away and Conemaugh borough was a thing 
of the past. 

The little village of Millville, with a population of 1,000, had nothing 
left of it but the school house and the stone buildings of the Cambria Iron 
Company. Woodvale was gone and South Fork wrecked. Hundreds of 
people were drowned in their homes, hundreds were swept away in their 
dwellings and met death in the debris that was whirled madly about on the 
surface of the flood ; hundreds, as has been said, were burned, and hundreds 
who sought safety on floating driftwood were overwhelmed by the flood or 
washed to death against obstructions. 

The instances of heroism and self-sacrifice were never excelled, perhaps 
not equaled, on a battlefield. Men rather than save themselves alone died 
nobly with their families, and mothers willingly gave up their lives rather 
than abandon their children. 

CRAZED BY THEIR SUFFERINGS. 

When the great waves of death swept through Johnstown the people 
who had any chance of escape ran hither and thither in every direction. 
They did not have any definite idea where they were going, only that a 
crest of foaming waters as high as the housetops was roaring down upon 
them through the Conemaugh, and that they must get out of the way of that. 
Some in their terror dived into the cellars of their houses, though this was 
certain death. Others got up on the roofs of their houses and clambered 
over the adjoining roofs to places of safety. But the majority made for the 
hills, which girt the town like giants. 

Of the people who went to the hills the water caught some in its whirl. 
The others clung to trees and roots and pieces of debris which had tempo- 
rarily lodged near the banks, and managed to save themselves. These peo- 
ple either stayed out on the hills wet, and in many instances naked, all night, 
or they managed to find farm houses which sheltered them. There was a 
fear of going back to the vicinity of the town. Even the people whose 
houses the water did not reach abandoned their homes and began to think 
of all of Johnstown as a city buried beneath the water. 

Rebuilding o^gan before the waters had disappeared, and today the city 
is larger and better constructed than before. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

GALVESTON! 

Storm Breaks Over Fated Island— Deadly Work of Four Hours— Fury of the Hurricane — A 
Fearful Saturday Night — People Stunned; Food Gone — What a Relief Party Saw 
Sunday Morning — Vampires and Thieves Hold Sway — Looting and Plunder Every- 
where — Bodies Consigned to the Flames — Supplies Delayed and People Starving. 

How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. — Romans, 11: 33. 

Approaching in horror the San Francisco disaster stands the Galveston 
flood — unparalleled in the history of the world. A frightful West Indian hur- 
ricane, lashing up a tidal wave, descended upon the beautiful and progressive 
city on September 8, 1900, causing the loss of nearly ten thousand lives and the 
destruction of millions of dollars' worth of property. The storm then ravaged 
Central and Western Texas, killing several hundred people and inflicting dam- 
age that years were required to repair. 

When the gale approached the island upon which Galveston is situated, it 
lashed the waves of the Gulf of Mexico into a tremendous fury, causing them 
to rise to all but mountain height, and then it was that, combining their forces, 
the wind and water pounced upon their prey. 

DEADLY WORK OF FOUR HOURS. 

In the short space of four hours the entire site of the city was covered by 
angry waters, while the gale blew at the rate of one hundred miles an hour; 
business houses, public buildings, churches, residences, charitable institutions, 
and all other structures gave way before the pressure of the wind and the fierce 
onslaught of the raging flood, and those which did not crumble altogether were 
so injured, in the majority of cases, that they were torn down. 

Such a night of horror as the unfortunate inhabitants were compelled to 
pass has fallen to the lot of few since the records of history were opened. In 
the early evening, when the water first began to invade Galveston Island, the 
people residing along the beach and near it fled in fear from their homes and 
sought the highest points in the city as places of refuge, taking nothing but the 
smaller articles in their houses with them. On and on crawled the flood, until 
darkness had set' in, and then, as though possessed of a fiendish vindictiveness, 
hastened its speed and poured over the surface of the town, completely sub- 
merging it — covering the most elevated ground to a depth of five feet and the 
lower portions ten and twelve feet. 

FURY OF THE HURRICANE. 

The hurricane was equally malignant, if not more fiendish and cruel, and 
tore great buildings and beautiful homes to pieces with evident delight, scat- 



256 EARTHQUAKES 

tering the debris far and wide; telegraph and telephone lines were thrown 
down, railway tracks and bridges — the latter connecting the island and city with 
the mainland— torn tip, and the mighty, tangled mass of wires, bricks, sections 
of roofs, sidewalks, fences and other things hurled into the main thoroughfares 
and cross streets, rendering it impossible for pedestrians to make their way along 
for many days after the waters and gale had subsided. 

Forty thousand people — men, women and children — cowered in terror for 
eight long hours, the intense blackness of the night, the swishing and lapping 
of the waves, the demoniac howling and shrieking of the wind and the inde- 
scribable and awful crashing, tearing and rending as the houses, hundreds at 
a time, were wrecked and shattered, ever sounding in their ears. 

Often, too, the friendly shelter where families had taken refuge would be 
swept away, plunging scores and scores of helpless ones into the mad current 
which flowed through every street of the town, and fathers and mothers were 
compelled to undergo the agony of seeing their children drown, with no pos- 
sibility of rescue; husbands lost their wives and wives their husbands, and the 
elements were only merciful when they destroyed an entire family at once. 

A FEARFUL SATURDAY NIGHT, 

All during that fearful night of Saturday until the gray and gloomy dawn 
of Sunday broke upon the sorrow-stricken city, the entire population of Gal- 
veston stood face to face with grim death in its most horrible shapes; they 
could not hope for anything more than the vengeance of the hurricane, and as 
they realized that with every passing moment souls were being hurried into 
eternity, is it at all wonderful that, after the strain was over and all danger 
gone, reason should finally be unseated and men and women break into the 
unmeaning gayety of the maniac? 

Not one inhabitant of Galveston old enough to realize the situation had any 
idea other than that death was to be the fate of all before another day appeared, 
and when this long and weary suspense, to which was added the chill of the 
night and the growing pangs of hunger, was at last broken by the first gleams 
of the light of the Sabbath morn, the latter was not entirely welcome, for the 
face of the sun was hidden by morose and ugly clouds, from which dripped, at 
dreary intervals, cold and gusty showers. 

Thousands were swallowed up during the darkness and their bodies either 
mangled and mutilated by the wreckage which had been tossed everywhere, left 
to decompose in the slimy ooze deposited by the flood or forced to follow the 
waves in their sullen retirement to the waters of the gulf. The destruction was 
terrific ; miles and miles of railroad track had disappeared, and the bridges car- 
ried away ; there was absolutely no means of communication with the outer 
world except by boat. 

GHOULS PLY THEIR FIENDISH WORK. 

The strange spectacle was then presented of the richest city of its size in 



EARTHQUAKES 257 

the richest country in the world lying prostrate, helpless and hopeless, a prey to 
ghouls, vultures, harpies, thieves, thugs and outlaws of every sort; its people 
starving, and the putrid bodies of its dead breeding pestilence. 

Never did a storm work more cruelly. All the electric light and telegraph 
poles were prostrated and the streets were littered with timbers, slate, glass 
and every conceivable character of debris. There was hardly a habitable house 
in the entire city, and nearly every business house was either wrecked entirely 
or badly damaged. 

On Monday there were deaths from hunger and exposure, and the list 
swelled rapidly. People were living as best they could — in the ruins of their 
homes, in hotels, in schoolhouses, in railway stations, in churches, in the streets 
by the side of their beloved dead. 

So great was the desolation one could not imagine a more sorrowful place. 
Street cars were not running ; no trains could reach the town ; only sad-eyed 
men and women walked about the streets ; the dead and wounded monopolized 
the attention of those capable of doing anything whatever, and the city was at 
the mercy of thieves and ruffians. 

From Tremont to P street, thence to the beach, not a vestige of a residence 
was to be seen. 

PEOPLE STUNNED; FOOD GONE. 

In the business section of the city the water was from three to ten feet 
deep in stores, and stocks of all kinds, including foodstuffs, were total losses. 
It was a common spectacle — that of inhabitants of the fated city wandering 
around in a forsaken and forlorn way, indifferent to everything around them 
and paying no attention to inquiries of friends and relatives. 

Starting as soon as the water began to recede Sunday morning, a relief 
party began the work of rescuing the wounded and dying from the ruins of 
their homes. The scenes presented were almost beyond description. Screaming 
vvomen, bruised and bleeding, some of them bearing the lifeless forms of chil- 
dren in their arms ; men, broken-hearted an 1 sobbing, bewailing the loss of 
their wives and children; streets filled with -mating rubbish, among which 
there were many bodies of the victims of the storm, constituted part of the awful 
picture. In every direction, as far as the eye could reach, was desolation. 

The depredations of the lawless element were of an inconceivably brutal 
character. Unprotected women, whether found upon the streets or in their 
houses, were subjected to outrage or assault and robbed of their clothing and 
jewelry. Pedestrians were held up on the public thoroughfare in broad day- 
light and compelled to give up all valuables in their possession. The bodies of 
the dead were despoiled of everything, and in their haste to secure valuables 
the ghouls would mutilate the corpses, cutting off ringers to obtain the rings 
thereon and amputating the ears of the women to get the earrings worn therein. 

VAMPIRES AND THIEVES HOLD SWAY. 

The majority of the thieves and vampires belonged in the city of Galveston 



258 EARTHQUAKES 

and were re-enforced by desperadoes from outside towns, like Houston, Austin 
and New Orleans, who took advantage of the rush to the city immediately after 
the disaster, obtaining free transportation on the railroad and steamers upon a 
pretense that they were going to Galveston for the purpose of working with 
relief parties and the gangs assigned for burial of the dead. 

Their outrages became so flagrant and the people of the city became so ter- 
rified in consequence of their depredations that the city authorities were unable 
to cope with them, most of the officers of the police department being instructed 
to shoot them on the spot when found in the act of robbery. In every instance 
the pockets of the harpies slain by the United States troops were found filled 
with jewelry and other valuables, and in some cases, notably that of one negro, 
fingers were found in their possession which had been cut from the hands of the 
dead, the vampires being in such a hurry that they could not wait to tear the 
rings off. On Wednesday evening the government troops came across a gang 
of fifty desperadoes, who were despoiling the bodies of the dead found enmeshed 
in the debris of a large apartment house. 

With commendable promptness the regulars put the ghouls under arrest, 
and finding the proceeds of their robberies in their possession lined them up 
against a brick wall and, without ceremony, shot every one of them. In cases 
where the villains were not killed at the first fire the sergeant administered coup 
de grace. Many of the thugs begged piteously for mercy, but no attention was 
paid to their feelings, and they suffered the same stern fate as the rest. 

When the state troops arrived in the city they took the same severe meas- 
ures, and the result was that within forty-eight hours the city was as safe as 
it had ever been. The police arrested every suspicious character and the jail and 
cells at the police station were filled to overflowing. 

LOOTING AND PLUNDER EVERYWHERE. 

Tuesday night ninety-two negro looters were shot in their tracks by 
citizen guards. One of them was searched and $700 found, together with 
four diimond rings and two water-soaked gold watches. The finger of a 
white woman with a gold band around it was clutched in his hands. 

In the afternoon, at the suggestion of Colonel Hawley, a mounted squad 
of nineteen men, under Adjutant Brokridge, was detailed by Major Fay- 
lings to search a house where negro looters were known to have secreted 
plunder. 

"Shoot them in their tracks, boys! We want no prisoners," said the 
major. The plunderers changed their location before the arrival of the 
detachment, however, and the raiders came back empty-handed. Twenty 
cases of looting were reported between 3 and 6 in the evening. 

At 6 o'clock a report reached Major Faylings that twenty negroes were 
robbing a house at Nineteenth and Beach streets. 

"Plant them," commanded the young major, as a half dozen citizen 
soldiers, led by a corporal, mustered before him for orders. 




u 



260 EARTHQUAKES 

"I want every one of those twenty negroes, dead or alive," said the 
major. 

The squad left on the double quick. Half an hour later they reported 
ten of the plunderers killed. 

The city was put under martial law Tuesday noon. 

An effort was made to identify the corpses, but it was soon found that 
work could not be proceeded with, as any delay imperiled the living. 

PESTILENCE BEGAN. 

Along the beach hundreds of corpses were buried in the sand, but the 
majority of the burials were at sea. By Wednesday night 2,500 bodies had 
been cast into the water, while about 500 had been interred within the city 
limits. Precautions were taken, however, to mark the graves and when 
the ground had dried sufficiently the bodies were disinterred and taken 
to the various cemeteries, where, after burial, suitable memorials were 
erected to mark their last resting place. No attempts were made at identi- 
fication after Wednesday, lists being simply made of the number of victims. 
The graves of those buried in the sand were marked by headboards with 
the inscriptions, "White man, aged forty;'' "White woman, aged twenty- 
five," and "male" or "female" child, as the case might be. 

BODIES CONSIGNED TO THE FLAMES. 

So accustomed did the burial parties become to the handling of the 
dead that they treated the bodies as though they were merely carcasses of 
animals and not bodies of human beings, and they were dumped into the 
trenches prepared for their reception without ceremony of any kind. The 
excavations were then filled up as hurriedly as possible, the sand being 
packed down tightly. 

It was practically an impossibility to get anyone to touch the bodies of 
the negro victims, decomposition having set in earlier than in the cases 
of the whites, and had it not been that members of the fire department 
volunteered their services the remains of the negroes would have remained 
unburied for a longer time than they were. 

The bodies of the dead were now so offensive that to attempt identifi- 
cation was impossible. Fears were entertained that contagion would spring 
from the surroundings. Pestilence could only be avoided by cremation. 
That was the order of the day. Human corpses, dead animals and all 
debris were therefore to be submitted to the flames. On Thursday upward 
of 400 bodies, mostly women and children, were cremated, and the work 
went rapidly on. They were gathered in heaps of twenty and forty bodies, 
saturated with kerosene and the torch applied. 

SUPPLIES DELAYED AND PEOPLE STARVING. 

On Thursday, September 13, trainload after trainload of provisions, 



EARTHQUAKES 



261 



clothing, disinfectants and medicines were lined up at Texas City, six miles 
from Galveston, all sent to the suffering survivors of the storm-swept city. 
Across the bay were thousands of people, friends of the dead and living, 
waiting for news of the missing ones and an opportunity to help, but only 
a meager amount of relief had at that time reached the stricken town. Two 
telegraph wires had been put up and partial communication restored to let 
the outside world know that conditions there were far more horrible than 
was at first supposed. 

Every effort was put forth to reach the dying first, but all sorts of 
obstacles were encountered, because many of them were so badly maimed 
and wounded that they were unable to apply to the relief committees, and 
the latter were so burdened by the great number of direct applications that 
they were unable to send out messengers. 

The situation grew worse every minute ; everything was needed for 
man and beast — disinfectants, prepared foods, hay, grain, and especially 
water and ice. Scores more of people died that day as a result of inatten- 
tion and many more were on the verge of dissolution. 

A relief fund of many millions was raised and within a week great 
quantities , of food and other necessities were in Galveston or on the way. 
Crowds of refugees by that time had fled to Houston. 

The burning of 1,000 bodies in one day was one of the great acts of the 
soldiers. With the dead disposed of, rebuilding began, and the city of 
mourning now is larger, better constructed, and, with a great sea wall, a 
thousandfold safer than before. 





GOVERNOR PARDEE, 
OF CALIFORNIA. 



EX-MAYOR JAS. D. PHEI.AN, 

OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

Who Had Charge of the Relief Work. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
ERUPTION OF MONT PELEE. 

St. Pierre Falls Under Avalanche of Fire, Ashes and Lava — Great Tidal Wave Sweeps In — 
Steamer Wins Race With Death — Bodies Piled in Streets — Thousands Suffocated by 
Gas — Stirring Story of a Prisoner — St. Vincent Bathed in Flame. 

. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains for the valley of the mountains shall 
reach into Azal: yen ye shall flee, like as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of 
Uzziah king of Judah; and the Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee. — 
Zeeh. 14: 5. 

In an avalanche of fire and a river of molten lava, from 35,000 to 40,000 
souls — the number never will be known — were hurled into eternity by an 
eruption of Mont Pelee, May 8, 1902. when the City of St. Pierre, on the 
Island of Martinique, the most southerly of the West Indies group, was 
buried under lava. The island is owned by France, and the people were 
rich and wicked. St. Pierre was the principal city, and only two score sur- 
vived. 

At almost the same time the volcano Soufriere, on the Island of St. 
Vincent, adjoining, split asunder and killed thousands more. 

A Thursday morning dawned in splendor on the Island of St. Pierre 
and its people. The distance from the volcano to the sea is three miles, and 
to the town is five miles. Several hills and ravines lie between the town and 
the mountain, which, had the explosion occurred in the cone, would have 
partly saved the former. The vast fields of hot lava which were boiling in 
the base of Pelee for years were acted upon by an inlet of water. 

EARTH'S CRUST BREAKS AND CAUSES ERUPTION. 

This, no doubt, came through a crevice from the sea. The French Cable 
Company reported that the sea floor at Martinique had dropped over one 
thousand feet. A break in the earth's crust must have resulted. Through 
this the sea waves passed. Coming in contact with the lava bed, an im- 
mense amount of steam was generated. 

Soon it became heated to an intensity of five or six tons' pressure to the 
square inch. It is almost impossible to conceive its latent force. The area 
which confined it could not hold the increasing volume. It sought an out- 
let. The cap over the summit of the crater proved too strong. It attacked 
the weakest side, which was adjacent to the town. This side of the mountain 
was unable to withstand the strain and blew out. 

As long as it takes a projectile to shoot through the air and drop to 
earth, just so long it took the fierce, red-hot streams of molten rock and 
sheets of flame to. fall. upon the town. 




UJ 



u 



264 EARTHQUAKES 

STORY OF ONE OF THE FEW SURVIVORS. 

The full story of the annihilation of St. Pierre can never be told in 
detail. From the lips of the survivors has come the little the world can ever 
know of it. The most accurate and the fullest came from Harvira Da Ifrile, 
a native girl, one of the thirty survivors rescued by the French cruiser 
Suchet. She said : 

"I was going to vespers at the cathedral when mother asked me to go 
up to my aunt's, who lived half up the mountain, just where it turns below 
what we used to call the 'corkscrew,' an old crater which had a winding 
path, down which we used to lead visitors to the island. 

"When I got to the 'corkscrew' I saw some puffs of smoke coming out 
of it, and only thinking it was some aged negro lighting a fire, I did not go 
to look. I had hardly gone more than three steps when I felt a hot wind 
from the 'corkscrew.' Thinking that something must be on fire, I ran to 
the top of the path, and there I saw the bottom of the pit all red, like boiling, 
with little blue flames shooting up from it. There were two guides leading 
a woman up the path and hurrying as fast as they could run. I saw a puff 
of blue smoke seem to hit the party and they fell as if killed. 

SAW LAVA COVER PARTY. 

"Horror-stricken, I stayed a minute or two till I saw the boiling stuff 
creep up the side of the 'corkscrew' until it covered the three people who 
were lying there. I got frightened then and ran down the road as fast as I 
could run, screaming all the way. I couldn't see anybody on the streets, 
and I was too frightened to stop and tell anybody. I think they must all 
have been at the cathedral, as it was the vigil of Ascension. 

"Just as I got to the main street I saw this boiling stuff burst from the 
top of the 'corkscrew' and run down the side of the hill. It followed the 
road first, but then, as the stream got bigger, it ate up the houses both sides 
of the road. Then I saw that a boiling red river was coming from another 
part of the hill and cutting off the escape of the people who were running 
out of the houses. 

"I ran as hard as I could to the beach and saw my brother's boat with 
sail set close to the stone wharf where he always kept it. I jumped in it, 
and just as I did so I saw him un down toward me. But he was too late, 
and I heard him scream 25 the sti "am first touched and then swallowed him. 

"I cut the rope that held the boat and went to an old cave about a quar- 
ter of a mile away, where we girls used to play pirates, but before I got there 
I looked back and the whole side of the mountain which was near the town 
seemed to open and boil down on the screaming thousands. I was burned a 
good deal by stones and ashes that came flying about the boat, but I got into 
the cave. 

A GREAT TIDAL WAVE FOLLOWS. 

''I remember hearing an awful hiss as the boiling stuff struck the sea; 



EARTHQUAKES 265 

and the cave, which was generally dry, filled up to the top with water, and 
I do not remember any more until they picked me up two miles at sea and I 
found myself on the big steamer." 

The officers of the Suchet say the girl was found unconscious in the 
sailing boat, which was badly charred and drifting helplessly, the mast and 
sail having been snapped off. It is thought the boat was too light to be 
swamped by the tidal wave. 

The twenty-nine others who were saved by the Suchet told much the 
same story, but they did not see the first signs of the explosion. With one 
exception all the survivors were working close to the sea when the eruption 
began and had two full minutes to get away from the shore before, as the 
girl said, "the mountain opened its side and boiled down" upon the town. 

Besides St. Pierre the towns of Le Precheur, three and a half miles 
northwest, and Manceau, were entirely destroyed. Le Precheur had a popu- 
lation of between 3,500 and 4,000. Manceau was smaller. 

These towns were suburbs of St. Pierre. They were situated at the 
foot of the mountains, and many of the inhabitants saved themselves by 
taking to the high ground. Their escape was practically shut off by the 
sea of lava. 

SAVED AS BY A MIRACLE. 

One of the beautiful little suburbs of St. Pierre was saved. Around a 
promontory at the southern edges nestled the little village of Carbet, a pretty 
town of some four to six thousand people. And not one of them was hurt, 
the town having been screened by a high ridge which lay between it and 
St. Pierre. 

Another eye witness, first mate of the Roraima, thus describes the dis- 
aster of St. Pierre : 

"About 7 150 o'clock in the morning on Thursday, without warning, there 
came a sort of whirlwind of steam, boiling mud and fire, which suddenly 
swept the city and the roadstead. There were fifteen vessels anchored in 
the harbor, including the Roraima, the French sailing ship Tamayia, four 
larger sailing ships and five others. All five vessels were immediately de- 
stroyed. All the boats except the Roraima sank instantly. The Roraima 
had on board the captain, crew and a few passengers. Captain Mugo-ah 
showed great heroism in trying to save the lives of the passengers, which 
he failed in doing, except that of one little girl. In doing this, even, he sacri- 
ficed his own life. 

EVERY HOUSE UTTERLY DESTROYED. 

"Every house ashore was utterly destroyed and apparently burned 
under the ashes and molten lava. An officer who was sent ashore as soon 
as possible penetrated but a short distance into the city. He found only a 
few walls standing and the streets literally paved with corpses." • 

The streams of fire that destroved St. Pierre came from the side of the 



266 EARTHQUAKES 

mountain, which opened and closed, leaving large and very deep crevices 
near Macuba and Grand Riviere. The sea during the catastrophe withdrew 
several hundred feet, coming back steaming with fury. The officers in charge 
of a boat making soundings off the island reported a depth of 4,000 feet where 
formerly it was only 600 to the bottom. Pumice stone and ashes covered the 
sea for many miles. 

IMPOSSIBLE TO APPROACH THE CITY. 

During the day following the eruption the heat in the vicinity of St. 
Pierre was so intense and the stream of flowing lava was so unremitting that 
it was impossible to approach the town. As evening came on the Suchet, 
after a heroic battle with the heat, suffocation and sulphur fumes, succeeded 
in making a dash toward the shore, nearing the land enough for her to take 
off the survivors of the disaster, all of whom were horribly burned and muti- 
lated. 

From the wharf where they landed a large number of bodies could be 
seen. The royal mail steamer Esk attempted to reach St. Pierre, but was 
unable to do so, as the city was blazing. She sent a boat ashore, but the 
crew did not see a living soul. The darkness, where unrelieved by the burn- 
ing city, was impenetrable. 

For two days after the eruption the sea was still a boiling caldron, and 
about St. Pierre for a distance of eight miles landward the intense heat from 
the volcano and the bed of hot ashes rendered it impossible to enter the town 
by land. But as approach became possible, the work of searching for friends 
began. Then it was that the extent of the calamity became known to the 
world. 

STEAMER WINS RACE WITH DEATH. 

The steamer Roddam escaped destruction by the fact that she had on 
a full pressure of steam and was able to run out of the harbor. When enter- 
ing the harbor of St. Thomas some hours later she carried the news of the 
disaster. The vessel itself bore silent witness to the terrible calamity. It 
was battered by pieces of white hot lava, her rigging was burned off, her 
captain severely burned, and seventeen of her crew were dead. The purser 
and ten of the crew lost their lives by jumping overboard while in the harbor 
at St. Pierre. 

The captain of the Roddam had cast anchor at St. Pierre just before 
the burst of fire that destroyed the place. The agent had come out to consult 
with him and was talking with him from a small boat when the shower of 
fire began. That was literally a rain of flame ; it burned men to death on 
the deck and obliterated everything on the ship that fire and stones could 
destroy. 

In that awful moment the captain acted as coolly as though such -a storm 
of fire were a common thing in his experience. The anchor was cast off. on 
his order and to the engine room a message was quickly sent directing the 
engineer to back the engine. 



268 EARTHQUAKES 

Slowly the vessel, torn and dismantled, with dying men writhing upon 
her deck, began to creep away, the captain holding the wheel to guide her 
in her effort to escape from the hail of death. The burning cinders rained 
upon him, blistering his hands, but he did not flinch. There was refuge below 
from the fire that was beating upon the exposed deck, but he did not 
stir. Though he was in danger of being incinerated like the members of the 
crew that lay about the deck, he held the wheel and guided the vessel away 
from the awful scene. 

BODIES PILED IN STREET. 

The town was a mass of indescribable ruins. In the lower part, called 
the Monillage, the outlines of the streets could be determined and here and 
there were walls of houses, which still stood erect but battered and crushed 
on all sides. Amid the hopeless labyrinth of debris one was able to pick out 
the sites of the club, the bank, the bourse, the telegraph office and the princi- 
pal shops. 

Everywhere was the same scene of utter desolation and death. At the 
police station there was a large pile of bodies lying face downward as if the 
victims had fallen while in the act of running to escape the fate impending 
over them. 

The fort and central quarters of the town were razed to the ground and 
were replaced by beds of hot cinders. The iron grille work gate of the gov- 
ernment offices was alone standing. There was no trace of the streets. Huge 
heaps of smoking ashes were to be seen on all sides. 

CORPSES ARE HORRIBLY MUTILATED. 

At the landing place some burned and ruined walls indicated the spot 
where the Custom House formerly stood, and traces of the larger shops could 
be seen. In that neighborhood hundreds of corpses were found lying in all 
kinds of attitudes, showing that the victims had met death as if by a lightning 
stroke. Every vestige of clothing was burned away from the charred bodies, 
and in many cases the abdomens had been burst open by the intense heat 

Curiously enough, the features of the dead were generally calm and re- 
poseful, though in some cases terrible fright and agony were depicted. Grim 
piles of bodies were stacked everywhere, showing that death had stricken 
them while the crowds were vainly seeking escape from the fiery deluge. On 
one spot a group of nine children were found locked in each other's arms. 

Most grewsome sights were at every side. The smoking waste of St. 
Pierre contained 30,000 corpses ; most of these were naked and frightfully 
mutilated, while from the rapid decomposition of the bodies arose a terrible 
stench. On May 13 Mont Pelee was still in a state of eruption, but the 
winds were southerly and the smoke and ashes thrown out bore away to the 
north. This somewhat relieved the working force and made the. examination 
of the ruins more possible. 



EARTHQUAKES 269 

THOUSANDS SUFFOCATED BY GAS. 

It is supposed that an enormous puff of gas produced a great atmospheric 
pressure. 

The formation of sulphuretted hydrogen gas doubtless caused thousands 
to die of sheer suffocation before the fire itself reached them. This explains 
the condition of the bodies, which are covered with superficial swellings and 
superficial burns caused by the great cloud of fire which followed the first 
gust of gas from the volcano. 

After this there came a shower of stones, some as large as apples and 
consisting of pumice stone. Certain bodies showed the marks of wounds 
produced by this awful hail of rocks. 

All the dead were covered by a layer of ashes ranging in depth from a 
few inches to a foot or more. 

THRILLING STORY OF A PRISONER. 

Raoul Sarteret, a prisoner who was found semi-suffocated but still alive 
in the dungeon of the city prison of St. Pierre, recovered sufficiently to de- 
scribe what he could see of the eruption and the destruction of the town 
from the small grated window, which was the only opening in his cell. 

"I was just eating my breakfast that morning," he said, "when the 
rumbling which I- had heard beneath my cell for three or four days previ- 
ously stopped suddenly. I do not know why, but I felt frightened, as though 
something fearful were to happen. Then the whole place became black, a 
sort of violet black, and I heard screams all through the prison. 

"I could not help feeling that there was a disaster near and I screamed 
to the jailers to come and unlock my cell, but I could not make any one 
hear. The little window in my cell looked out on the back of the convent, 
where 200 girls and a large number of nuns frequently stayed, but there was 
a high wall between my cell and the convent. 

"The violet darkness grew blacker and blacker, until it was almost as 
dark as though it were night, and then suddenly the whole place was lighted 
up with a curious glow, sometimes red, sometimes green, but generally red. 
I put my little table against the cell window and, hanging on by the bars, 
attempted to look out, but could not see anything because of the brick wall 
in front of me. 

RED-HOT STONES STRIKE CITY. 

"While I looked, however, a huge red-hot stone crashed down just in 
front of my window, right on the top of the wall, knocking it down. The 
heat from this stone was most intense and made my post at the window 
fearful to endure, but the sight was such that I could not turn away. 

"Right in front of me where the brick wall had stood I saw the large 
convent, and I could see that molten matter had come down the hill and had 
run into the grounds of the convent. I realized then that there must have 



270 EARTHQUAKES 

been an eruption of Mont Pelee. To my horror I discovered that the lava 
had completely encircled the convent with its first rush and that all the girls 
and sisters who were in the building were doomed. 

'While I looked I saw another stone, even larger than the one which 
had fallen near my cell window and broken down the wall, strike on the 
convent roof and crash through its three stories, evidently plunging through 
to the ground. I had not seen any of the sisters until that time, and I sup- 
posed they had depended for safety on the building, seeking shelter from the 
rain of hot ashes which I could see falling. 

DESTRUCTION OF THE CONVENT. 

"In an instant after this huge stone crashed through I saw the poor 
girls flocking out in the utmost terror. Their actions looked as though they 
were screaming in an agony of fright, but I could not hear a sound owing 
to the hissing of the lava and the roar of the volcanic discharge. As the girls 
came running out I saw that they carried with them bodies of those who had 
been injured by the crashing of the stone through the building. Some they 
carried out were dead, while I could sec that others were only injured. 

"The sisters came running out, too, bringing appliances for helping the 
injured, but those who had hurried out of the building were driven in again 
by the blinding ashes and the fumes which I could see rise from the lava. 

"A pit had been dug on the inside of the wall in order that none of the 
girls should be able to climb up from the inside, and this acted as a sort of 
moat, in which the lava floated, and thus made a complete circle round the 
convent, rendering escape impossible, even if it had been possible to live in 
the rain of hot stones and ashes from the mountain. 

"Again as I looked I saw another stone fall upon the building, and this 
time many more of the girls rushed out. This time they were far fewer. 
A party of them broke down one of the doors, and, holding this over their 
heads, they tried to run for the gate, but were amazed to find their escape cut 
off by the river of lava. 

SEES SCORES OF GIRLS PERISH. 

"The lava gradually rose and rose, and I could see the huddled group 
of girls growing smaller and smaller, as first one and then others succumbed 
to the poisonous fumes and the fearful heat of the surrounding lava. And 
as the group got smaller the lava rose and rose, until there was but a small 
piece of land around the building where the ground was not a heaving, 
swelling mass of molten matter. 

"Then with one great burst, it seemed to me, a fresh stream of lava 
flowed into the moat and overswept the building and the little island on 
which the girls were standing a moment before. 1 turned away my eyes in 





u 



272 EARTHQUAKES 

horror, and when next I looked nothing was to be seen of the convent but a 
heap of calcined stone, and here and there the blackened corpses of those who 
but a few moments before had'been full of life and hope. 

"I could not see what was happening in the town for the reason that 
the window of my cell was so small and besides there was a pall of black- 
ness over all the scene. I could, however, see here and there, as the smoke 
lifted, that the lava had extended clear down to the sea and that but a few 
of the larger buildings had successfully withstood the attack of the volcanic 
eruption. 

"While I was looking from my cell window, my eyes almost seared out 
of my head by the heat through the narrow orifice, I noticed a thin blue 
smoke curl along the ground, and, caught by some eddying gust of wind 
the fumes struck straight into my cell window, and I remember no more." 



HEAT AND STENCH AWFUL. 

The heat from the smoking, lava-covered ruins was suffocating and the 
stench from the corpse-strewn streets was awful. 

On all sides were found portions of corpses, which were gathered up by 
the soldiers and gendarmes and burned on one of the public squares. Not 
a drop of water was procurable ashore. 

The darkness caused by the clouds of volcanic dust shrouded the town 
and continuous subterranean rumbling added to the horror of the scene . 

At the landing place some burned and ruined walls indicated the spot 
where the Custom House formerly stood, and traces of the larger shops 
could be seen. In that neighborhood hundreds of corpses were found lying 
in all kinds of attitudes, showing that the victims had met death as if by a 
lightning stroke. Every vestige of clothing was burned away from the 
charred bodies, and in many cases the abdomens had been burst open by the 
intense heat. 

The most populous quarters of the town were buried under a thick 
layer of cindered lava, which apparently entirely consumed the bodies of 
the victims. But in the lower portions grim piles of bodies were stacked 
everywhere, showing that death had stricken them while the crowds were 
vainly seeking escape from the fiery deluge. In one instance an entire 
family of nine persons were found, all tightly locked in each others' arms, 
and the bodies in a horrible state of decomposition. 

It was judged from the positions of the bodies that many were over- 
come almost before they realized the extent of the peril. Many of the 
bodies were in lifelike positions, as though death had come with a breath, 
as indeed must have been the case. 

Identification was impossible in many cases, but in other cases there 
was no doubt as to the identified. Some were identified by the searching 
parties, which were under military control and conducted under orders. 



EARTHQUAKES • 273 

BODIES BURNED WITH PETROLEUM. 

Several steamers, including the government vessel Rubis, came from 
Fort de France to St. Pierre. 

Almost the first thing done was to make preparations for the cremation 
of the dead. Fatigue parties of soldiers built enormous pyres of wood and 
branches of trees, upon which they heaped the dead bodies by scores, and 
burned them as rapidly as possible. To facilitate the combustion and to 
destroy as far as possible the frightful odor of burning flesh which came 
from them, the impromptu crematories were heavily soaked with coal tar 
and petroleum. All the dead were naked, their clothing apparently having 
burned from their bodies like so much tinder, while they themselves were 
roasted to death. In the vast majority of instances fire seems to have been 
the sole cause of death. 

The terrible scenes witnessed by the burial parties were most heart- 
rending. Steps were taken to prevent disease from results of the disaster. 
Although burial parties worked night and day, it was impossible that the 
dead could be cared for as their friends would wish. 

The only persons employed in burying the dead were a few small detach- 
ments of French soldiers. The negroes who survived the disaster could not 
be persuaded to help in the grewsome work. Fifty ghouls were captured. 

ST. VINCENT IN BAPTISM OF FIRE. 

The eruption of La Soufriere, on the British island of St. Vincent, was 
a disaster in itself, although not so terrible as that of Mont Pelee. From 
3,000 to 5,000 were killed. 

St. Vincent passed through a veritable baptism of fire, and with such 
fearful results as to rival the disaster of Mont Pelee and its environs with 
their thirty thousand victims. 

Morne Soufriere had been in activity for nearly a fortnight, burying the 
inhabitants and vegetation in ashes. The havoc caused was so great that 
it is said that if a line were drawn dividing the island into halves there 
would in all probability be not one living being found north of it. The entire 
district was a smoking, incinerated ruin. Ashes were everywhere, in no 
place being less than two feet deep. Every Indian had disappeared. Not a 
sprig of green was to be seen on the island. Live stock had died. Houses 
had vanished. Rivers were dry and in their beds ran lava. 

ERUPTION WATCHED BY SPECTATORS. 

On the night of May 7 the lurid flames from Morne Soufriere were 
watched by the people of St. Lucia, and on the following night the Wear, a 
steamship of the Royal Mail Service, was held for three hours by a block of 
floating ashes while trying to make her way to Kingston. 

When it finally reached Kingston at daybreak the next morning the 



274 EARTHQUAKES 

town was in a pitiable condition. Ashes two inches deep covered the streets, 
and a rain of stones was falling from the crater fifteen miles away, while the 
panic-stricken people were praying for deliverance. 

Down through an old river channel flowed a stream of molten lava and 
emptied into the sea, with a hissing roar that could be heard for miles. This 
stream reached the sea within one hundred yards of Georgetown, and was 
carried by its own force a quarter of a mile beyond the water's edge. 

Many new craters opened and closed near the summit of Morne Sou- 
friere. For ninety years the volcano had been dormant, and a beautiful blue 
lake filled its crater, but for a number of days preceding this eruption 
the mountain had trembled violently and deep mutterings were heard within. 

MEET DEATH IN AWFUL FORM. 

On Thursday morning. May 8, the same day as the Pelee outburst, a 
huge column of black smoke rose to the distance of eight miles above the 
crater. Ashes and rock and boiling lava deluged the island and ocean for 
miles around. It is believed that many of the victims were suffocated by 
the sulphurous gas before the white-hot lava reached them. The earth 
quaked continually. 

At last came the climax. May 10 Soufriere suddenly opened, sending 
six separate streams of lava pouring and boiling down its sides. Death was 
everywhere and in its most terrible form. Lightning came from the sky, 
killing many who had escaped the molten streams overpouring into the 
valleys. 

The lava destroyed several districts with their live stock. People fled 
to Georgetown, streams were dried up, and in many places a food and water 
famine threatened. The government fed numbers of sufferers from the out- 
break. 

The dead on St. Vincent, as on Martinique, were burned. St. Pierre 
never was rebuilt ; the French government would not allow it. It was be> 
lieved that gases caused nearly all the deaths on St. Vincent. 

Quick relief was given .the sufferers. The United States Congress ap- 
propriated $200,000, American citizens gave as much more, and several mil- 
lions were raised throughout the world. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GREAT EARTHQUAKES OF HISTORY. 

List of Most Disastrous Seismic Disturbances — Shake-Up in Ancient Sparta — At Antioch — 
The Crash of 1755— Fifty Thousand Slain at Lisbon. 

Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled. — Jer, 4: 20. 

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are no new thing in the history of 
the world and thousands of lives have paid the toll. The following table 
shows the list of those known : 

Year. Victims. 

79 — Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed Thousands 

115 — Antioch destroyed Thousands 

557 — Constantinople Thousands 

742 — Syria and Palestine, 500 towns ruined Thousands 

1 137 — Catania, Sicily 15,000 

1456 — Naples 40,000 

1531 — Lisbon 30,000 

1626 — Naples 70,000 

1638 — Calabria Thousands 

1667 — Schamaki (lasted three months) . . . 80,000 

1693 — Sicily (fifty-four cities and towns and 300 villages) 100,000 

1703 — Jeddo, Japan 200,000 

1716 — Algiers 18,000 

1726 — Palermo 6,000 

1731 — Peking 100,000 

1746 — Lima and Callao 18,000 

1754 — Cairo 40,000 

1755 — ;Lisbon 50,000 

1759 — Baalbec, Syria 20,000 

1773 — Guatemala , 33,ooo 

1797 — Cuzco, Quito and other towns 40,000 

1812 — Caracas Thousands 

1822 — Aleppo : 20,000 

1851 — Melfi, Italy 14,000 

1857 — Kingdom of Naples 10,000 

l8 59 — Quito 5,000 

1861 — Mendoza, South America 12,000 

1863 — Manila 1,000 

1869 — Several towns in Peru and Ecuador 25,000 

276 



EARTHQUAKES 277 

1872 — Inyo Valley, California 30 

1875 — Towns near Santander, on the border of Colombia 14,000 

1878 — Cua, Venezuela , 300 

1880 — Manila 3,000 

1880 — Illapel, Chile 200 

1881 — Scio and several villages 4,000 

1883 — Island of Ischia, Italy 2,000 

1883 — Krakatoa and other Java volcanoes Thousands 

1884 — Severe shocks in England 5 

1884 — Andalusia and other parts of Spain 1,170 

1885 — Province of Granada, Spain 690 

1886 — Charleston, S. C 41 

1887 — Riviera and southern Europe 2,000 

1891 — Japan .' 4,000 

1893 — Persia 12,000 

1894 — Japan 10,000 

1899 — Tiflis, Transcaucasia 1,000 

1902 — St. Pierre, Martinique, eruption of Mont Pelee 40,000 

1902 — Andijan, India 2,500 

1903 — Syria 50 

1903 — Tiojo, Colombia 100 

1904 — Severe shocks in Abruzzi, Italy, violent quake at Lima, Peru, 

Wellington, New Zealand shaken 

1905 — North India 35,ooo 

1905 — Calabria, Italy 500 

1905 — Scutari, Albania 200 

1905 — Shemakha, Caucasia 300 

1905 — Tamazula, Mexico 100 

1906 — Region about Vesuvius 3,000 

Earthquake in Sparta left only five houses in the city, B. C. 464. 
One which made Euboea, in Greece, an island, 425. 
Helice and Bura,, in Peloponnesus, swalloped up, 2>72>- 
Duras, in Greece, and twelve cities in Campania buried, 345. 
Lysimachia buried, about 283. 
Ephesus overturned, A. D. 17. 

One accompanying the eruption of Vesuvius which buried Pompeii, 79. 
Great earthquakes in 105, 115, 126, 157, 358. 

At Constantinople; edifices destroyed, thousands perished, 557. 
In Africa many cities destroyed, 560. 

Awful one in Syria, Palestine and Asia, more than 500 towns destroyed, 
with immense loss of life, 742. 

Constantinople overturned ; all Greece shaken, 936. 
England, 1809; Antioch, 11 14. 



278 EARTHQUAKES 

Catania, in Sicily, overturned; 15,000 persons buried, 1137. 

Lincoln, England, 1142. 

Syria, 20,000 perished, 11 58. 

Calabria, a city, with its inhabitants, overwhelmed by the Adriatic Sea, 
September, 1186. 

In Cicilia, 60,000 perished, 1268. 

Greatest known in England, 14 November, 1318. 

At Naples, 40,000 perished, 5 December, 1456. 

Constantinople, thousands perished, 14 September, 1509. 

At Lisbon, 30,000 lost, 26 February, 1531. 

Naples, thirty villages ruined, 70,000 lives lost, 30 July, 1626. 

Schamaki, 80,000 perished, 1667. 

Port Royal, Jamaica, West Indies, 3,000 perished, June 7, 1692. 

Sicily, fifty-four cities, 300 villages, 100,000 lives lost. Of Catania, with 
18,000 inhabitants, not a trace remained, September, 1693. 

Jeddo, Japan, ruined; 200,000 perished, 1703. 

Pekin, 100,000 swallowed up, 1731. 

At Grand Cairo half the houses and 40,000 people lost, 1754. 

Kaschan, North Persia, 40,000 perished, June 7th, 1755. 

The great earthquake at Lisbon, 50,000 lost, November 1st, 1755. 

At Martinique, 1,600 persons perished, August, 1767. 

Vesuvius overwhelmed city of Torre del Greco, June, 1794. 

Santa Fe and Panama, 40,000 lost, 4 February, 1797. 

New Madrid, in lower Mississippi, 181 1. 

Caracas, 12 March, 1812. 

Aleppo destroyed, 20,000 perished, August and 5 September, 1822. 

At Martinique nearly half of Port Royal destroyed ; 700 persons killed and 
the whole island damaged, 11 January, 1839. 

Manila much injured, 16-30 September, 1852. 

In seventy-five years, from 1783 to 1857, the Kingdom of Naples lost 111,- 
000 persons by earthquakes ! 

Java and Sumatra desolated by eruption of Krakatoa, xA.ugust, 1883. 

Slight shocks in United States, from Washington to New York, August 10, 
11, 1884. 

Charleston, S. C, 41 lives lost, August 31, 1886. 

Formosa, two earthquakes in 1906, probably 20,000 lives lost and $20,000,- 
000 damage done. 

EARTHQUAKE IN ANCIENT SPARTA. 

The earthquake which shook the Peloponnesus of Greece in 464 B. C. was 
important in its political bearing, being in this respect similar to one twenty-two- 
hundred and seventy-six years later in far-away South America. This Grecian 
earthquake opened great chasms in the ground and rolled down huge masses 
from the highest peaks of Taygetus. Sparta itself became a heap of ruins, in 



280 EARTHQUAKES 

which not more than five houses are said to have been left standing. More than 
20,000 persons were believed to have been destroyed by the shock, and the flower 
of the Spartan youth was overwhelmed by the fall of those buildings in which 
they were exercising and developing themselves into physical perfection. . 

The Helots of Sparta, especially those descended from the enslaved Messeni- 
ans, took advantage of the confusion produced by the earthquake to rise in revolt. 
Having secured possession of Ithome, they fortified themselves in the town and 
withstood there a siege of ten years. The Spartans invited the Athenians to aid 
them in the siege, but soon grew jealous of their allies, dismissed them with 
some rudeness, and thereby sowed the seed of the all-important Peloponnesian 
war. 

It is significant, however, that the clear-minded Spartans did not, like the 
Venezuelans of a supposedly more enlightened period, allow their priests to dis- 
tort the great natural calamity into a supernatural terror. 

EARTHQUAKES AT ANTIOCH. 

Early in the year 115 A. D. Antioch, the splendid capital of Syria, was 
visited by an earthquake, one of the most disastrous apparently of all the 
similar inflictions from which that luckless city has periodically suffered. 
The calamity was enhanced by the presence of unusual crowds from all the 
cities of the East, assembled to pay homage to the Emperor Trajan, or to 
take part in his expedition of conquest to the East. Among the victims were 
many Romans of distinction. Trajan himself escaped only by creeping 
through a window, for the shaken earth is no respecter of persons, and as 
readily engulfs the master of the world of men as it does the meanest slave. 

Again in 526, during the reign of Justinian, Antioch was the chief suf- 
ferer in the earthquakes which then, more than at any other period of history, 
were overwhelming the cities of the Roman Empire. 

Antioch, the metropolis of Asia, was entirely destroyed on the 20th of 
May, 526, at the very time when the inhabitants of the adjacent country were 
assembled to celebrate the festival of the Ascension ; and it is affirmed that 
two hundred and fifty thousand persons were crushed by the fall of its 
sumptuous edifices. 

Twenty-five years later, on the coast of Phoenicia, the city of Berytus, 
modern Beirut, whose schools were filled with the rising spirits of the age, 
devoted chiefly to the study of the civil law, was destroyed, and with ft 
many a brilliant young fellow, by earthquake, on the 9th of July, 551. 

Gibbon describes thus the earlier earthquake of 365 A. D. : "In the 
second year of the reign of Valentinian and Valens, on the morning of the 
2 1st dav of July, the greater part of the Roman world was shaken by a 
violent and destructive earthquake. The impression was communicated to 
the waters ; the shores of the Mediterranean were left dry by the sudden 
retreat of the sea. Then the tide returned with the weight of an immense 
and irresistible deluge, which was severely felt on the coasts of Sicily, of 



EARTHQUAKES 281 

Dalmatia, of Greece and of Egypt. The city of Alexandria commemorated 
thr. fatal day on which 50,000 persons lost their lives in the inundation." 

In 1692 an earthquake of terrible violence laid waste in less than three 
minutes the flourishing colony of Jamaica. Whole plantations changed 
their place; whole villages were swallowed up. Port Royal, the fairest and 
wealthiest city which the English had yet built in the new world, renowned 
for its quays, its warehouses, and for its stately streets, which were said to 
rival Cheapside, were turned into a mass of ruins. Fifteen hundred of the 
inhabitants were buried under their own dwellings. 

THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1755. 

On the morning of the 1st of November, 1755, an earthquake was felt 
from Scotland on the north to mid-Africa on the south, and from the Azores 
on the west to Persia on the east, a region three thousand by four thousand 
miles in extent. In the north its effects, as usual with earthquakes in that 
region, were slight and few. The Island of Madeira was laid waste, and 
the ruin extended to Mitylene in the Greek archipelago. In Madrid a violent 
shock was felt, but no buildings and only two human beings perished. In 
Fez and in Morocco, on the contrary, great numbers of houses were shaken 
down, and multitudes of people were buried beneath their ruins. How many 
of the inhabitants of the Barbary States perished it is difficult to ascertain 
from European sources, for Christendom, in spite of its Great Teacher's 
injunction to love its neighbor as itself, does not count the dead unless they 
have white skins. Three hundred thousand Chinese dead in Haifong seem 
to affect us less than three hundred Americans or Europeans. 

In the Krakatoa eruption the thirty-seven Europeans occasioned more 
distress than thirty-seven thousand men of yellow skin. It is probable, 
however, that the "great multitudes" of Arabs who perished in 1755 num- 
bered twelve thousand. 

FIFTY THOUSAND SLAIN AT LISBON. 

But the widest and most fearful destruction was reserved for Lisbon, 
capital of Portugal, which had already, in 1531, been shaken down with 
immense loss of life. The population of the city was collected in the churches 
on the 1st of November, it being All Saints' Day. At 9 o'clock in the 
morning all the churches were crowded with kneeling worshipers of each 
sex, all classes and all ages, when a sudden and most violent shock made 
every church reel to its foundations. 

Within the interval of a few minutes two other shocks no less violent 
ensued, and every church in Lisbon, tall column and towering spire, was 
hurled to the ground. Thousands and thousands of people were crushed to 
death, and thousands more grievously maimed, unable to crawl away and 
left to expire in lingering agony. 

An Englishman, Mr. Chase, in a letter to his sister, published in Black- 



282 EARTHQUAKES 

woods Magazine in i860, says that from his bedroom in the fourth story 
of an old house: "The most horrid prospect that imagination can figure 
appeared before my eyes ! The house began to heave to that degree that 
to prevent being thrown down I was obliged to put my arm out of a win- 
dow and support myself by the wall, every stone in the wail separating and 
grinding against each other (as did the walls of the other houses with variety 
of different motions) causing the most dreadful crunching, jumbling noise 
ears ever heard. * * * I thought the whole city was sinking into the 
earth. I saw the tops of two pillars meet, and I saw no mere, He was 
thrown to the ground from the fourth story, terribly mutilated, endangered 
by the ensuing fires, but finally escaped to give the world the most vivid 
impression of the great disaster. 

The more stately and magnificent the church on that All Saints' Day the 
more fearful and widespread was the ruin it wrought. About one-fourth 
of all the houses in the city toppled down. The encumbered streets could 
scarce afford an outlet to the fugitives; "Friends," says an eye witness, "run- 
ning from their friends, fathers from their children, husbands from their 
wives, because everyone fled away from their habitations full of terror, con- 
fusion and distraction." The earth seemed to heave and quiver like an ani- 
mated being. The sun was darkened by the clouds of lurid dust that arose. 
Frantic with fear, a headlong multitude rushed for safety to a large and 
newly built stone pier which jutted out into the Tagus, when a sudden 
convulsion of the river bottom turned the pier bottom uppermost, like a 
ship on its keel in a tempest, and then engulfed it. Of all the living creatures 
that thronged it — full three thousand, it is said — not one, even as a corpse, 
ever rose again. 

TIDAL WAVE OVERWHELMS. 

From the banks of the river other crowds were looking on in speechless 
affright, when the river itself came rushing in upon them in a torrent, though 
against wind and tide. It rose at least fifteen feet above the highest spring 
tides, and then again subsided, drawing in or dashing to pieces everything 
within its reach, while the very ships in the harbor were violently, hurled 
about, earth and water alike seemed let loose as scourges upon the devoted 
city. 

"Indeed, every element," said a person present, "seemed to conspire to 
our destruction, for in about two hours after the shock fires broke out in three 
different parts of the city, occasioned by household goods and kitchen fires 
being jumbled together." 

At this time also the wind blew into a fresh gale, which made the fires 
spread in extent and rage with fury during three days, until there remained 
but little for them to devour. Many of the maimed and wounded are be- 
lieved to have perished unseen and unheeded in the flames ; some few were 
almost miraculously restored after being for whole days buried where they 
fell, without light or food or hope. The total number of deaths was com- 



284 EARTHQUAKES 

puted at the time as about thirty thousand. Other estimates give fifty and 
even a hundred thousand, but until our own careful age reports of earth- 
quakes commonly exaggerated the loss of life. 

EARTHQUAKE AT VENEZUELA. 

On the 26th of March, 1812, Venezuela was visited by a fearful earth- 
quake, of which the political effect was even more important than the 
physical. The capital, Caracas, and several other towns, were destroyed, 
together with 20,000 people. Many others perished of hunger and in other 
ways, even as some of the people of Martinique perished, and as more would 
have perished had it not been for the prompt assistance of the United States 
and other nations. But the 26th of March, 1812, was Holy Thursday ; and 
the superstitious people, prompted by their priests, believed the awful 
catastrophe wrought by the forces of nature to be a visitation and judgment 
from God upon them for their revolt against their Spanish masters, whose 
rule the congress of their provinces had thrown off. The Spanish troops, 
under Monteverde, began a fresh attack upon the disquieted Venezuelans. 
The revolutionary leader, Miranda, head of the army, had overrun New 
Granada and laid the foundation of the future United States of Colombia. 
But the face of affairs was changed by news of the earthquake. Smitten with 
despair, his soldiers deserted to the royalists ; he lost ground everywhere; 
the fortress of Puerto Cavello, commanded by the great Bolivar, then a 
colonel in the service of the republic, was surrendered through treachery, and 
three months after the earthquake, Miranda himself was obliged to capitu- 
late with all his forces, and Venezuela fell, once more into the hands of the 
Royalists. 

Lest we of the United States should flatter ourselves that our nation 
is superior to such childish superstition, we should remind ourselves that 
in our cities and throughout our land the Second Adventists long sol- 
emnly affirmed and vehemently preached that the eruption of Mont Pelee 
was but the beginning of the destruction of the world for supernatural pur- 
poses. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
WORLD'S DISASTERS FROM WIND. 

Cyclones: Their Cause and Effect — Hurricanes — Hearn's Graphic Story — Tornadoes — How 
They Differ from Other Storms. 

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. — II Tim, 3: 1. 

In enumerating the world's disasters, it may not be out of place to stop and 
briefly glance at the terrible havoc wrought by windstorms, their immediate 
cause and the danger attending them. 

First under the head of windstorms may be mentioned whirlwinds. These 
are most frequent in the desert, where the earth is level, the heat extreme, and 
the air at rest. Whirlwinds occur during the clay, when the sun has warmed 
the earth and the earth in turn has warmed the lower strata of air, the atmos- 
phere becoming cooler as its altitude from the earth increases. The air is also 
denser and heavier at the earth's surface because the attraction of the earth pulls 
it down, causing the upper air to rest upon the lower. 

Scientific research shows that whirlwinds are caused mainly by heat. The 
high temperature and density of the lower air disturbs the equilibrium, hence the 
whirl. The height and distance to which the whirl extends depend upon circum- 
stances, the location and the opposition it meets. In regions not flat, the lower 
air flows in from the slopes as it becomes heated and the whirl is gradually 
destroyed. 

Whirlwinds frequently become of great size and do great damage, the air 
in motion carrying light objects upward to a height of thousands of feet. The 
whirling is usually accompanied by a roaring sound, and the narrower the path 
the faster the motion and the louder the noise. The desert sand storms often 
swallow up whole caravans, hence have come to bear the name of "devil" 
from the evil way in which they come and go and the destruction they bring 
about. 

CYCLONES, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 

Cyclones are somewhat similar in effect to whirlwinds, but their cause 
embraces new elements. Besides level surface and intense heat, they are in- 
fluenced by the earth's rotation and the condensing of vapor. The cyclones of 
the Bay of Bengal have been studied with great care, and meteorologists are a 
unit in concluding they arise much as the desert whirlwind does — in a place of 
heat and quiet. The calm ,that precedes a cyclone is always noticeable ; the air 
is close and oppressively warm ; the water all around is smooth and peaceful. 

The greater the calm and composure and the longer the preparatory stage, 
the more fearful the storm. This calm is in fact the embryo of the cyclone. 

Cyclones which take place in the tropics are attended by heavy rain due to 



286 EARTHQUAKES 

the vapor condensing at the center and falling to the earth. When on sea, 
cyclones often last for days and do untold damage. 

The regions encompassed by cyclones are the seas south and east of India 
and China, in the location of the West Indian Islands, around Madagascar and 
near Australia. They invariably run westward near the equator, then turn to 
the pole and obliquely turn eastward again. 

A remarkable feature regarding cyclones is that no violent ones have so 
far occurred within 400 miles of the equator, this being due to the earth's rota- 
tion, which at this point is zero. There would be no violent storms if the earth 
stood still. 

HURRICANES. 

The origin of a hurricane is not fully settled. Its accompanying phenomena, 
however, are significant to even the casual observer. A long swell on the ocean 
usually precedes it. This swell may be forced to great distances in advance of 
the storm and be observed two or three days before the storm strikes. A faint 
rise in the barometer may be noticed before the sharp fall follows. Wisps of 
thin cirrus cloud float for 200 miles around the storm center. The air is calm 
and sultry until a gentle breeze springs from the southeast. This breeze becomes 
a wind, a gale and, finally, a tempest, with matted clouds overhead, precipitating 
rain and a churning sea below throwing clouds of spume into the air. 

Here are all the terrible phenomena of the West Indian hufi.cane — the 
tremendous wind, the thrashing sea, the lightning, the bellowing thunder, and 
the drowning rain that seems to be dashed from mighty tanks with the force of 
Titans. 

But almost in an instant all these may cease. The wind dies, the lightning 
goes out, the rain ceases, and the thunder bellows only in the distance. The core 
of the storm is overhead. Only the waves of the sea are churning. There may 
be twenty miles of this central core, a diameter of only one-thirtieth that of the 
storm. It passes quickly, and with as little warning as preceded its stoppage 
the storm closes in again, but with the wind from the opposite direction, and 
the whole phenomena suggesting a reversal of all that has gone before. 

The cyclone is confined to a narrow track and it has no long-drawn-out hor- 
rors. Its climax is reached in a moment. The hurricane, however, grows and 
grows, and when it has reached to 100 or 120 miles an hour nothing can with- 
stand it. 

No storm possible in the elements presents the terrors that accompany the 
hurricane. 

HEARN'S GRAPHIC STORY OF HURRICANE. 

No more graphic portrayal of the hurricane is found in literature than that 
of LTsle Derniere by Lafcadio Hearn, which we here reprint : 

"One great noon, when the blue abyss of day seemed to yawn over the 
world more deeply than ever before, a sudden change touched the quicksilver 
smoothness of the waters — the swaying shadow of a vast motion. First the 




Ed 



go 



288 EARTHQUAKES 

whole sea circle appeared to rise up bodily at the sky; the horizon curve lifted 
to a straight line ; the line darkened and approached — a monstrous wrinkle, an 
immeasurable fold of green water moving swift as a cloud shadow pursued by 
sunlight. But it had looked formidable only by startling contrast with the pre- 
vious placidity of the open ; it was scarcely two feet high ; it curled slowly as it 
neared the beach and combed itself out in sheets of woolly foam with a low, rich 
roll of thunder. Swift in pursuit another followed — a third, a feebler fourth : 
then the sea only swayed a little and stilled again. 

"Irregularly the phenomenon continued to repeat itself, each time with 
heavier billowings and briefer intervals of quiet, until at last the whole sea grew 
restless and shifted color and flickered green — the swells became shorter and 
changed form. * * * 

"The pleasure-seekers of Last Island knew there must have been a 'great 
blow' somewhere that day. Still the sea swelled, and a splendid surf made the 
evening bath delightful. Then just at sundown a beautiful cloud bridge grew 
up and arched the sky with a single span of cottony, pink vapor that changed 
and deepened color with the dying of the iridescent day. And the cloud bridge 
approached, strained and swung round at last to make way for the coming of 
the gale — even as the light bridges that traverse the dreamy Teche swing open 
when the luggermen sound through their conch shells the long, bellowing signal 
of approach. 

"Then the wind began to blow from the northeast, clear, cool. * * ■* 
Clouds came, flew as in a panic against the face of the sun, and passed. All 
that day, through the night, and into the morning again the breeze continued 
from the northeast, blowing like an equinoctial gale. ***** 

"Cottages began to rock. Some slid away from the solid props upon which 
they rested. A chimney tumbled. Shutters were wrenched off; verandas de- 
molished, light roofs lifted, dropped again, and flapped into ruins. Trees bent 
their heads to earth. And still the storm grew louder and blacker with every 
passing hour. * * * * * 

"So the hurricane passed, tearing off the heads of prodigious waves to hurl 
them a hundred feet in air, heaping up the ocean against the land — upturning 
the woods. Bays and passes were swollen to abysses ; rivers regorged ; the sea 
marshes changed to roaring wastes of water. Before New Orleans the flood of 
the mile-broad Mississippi rose six feet above highest water mark. One hun- 
dred and ten miles away Donaldsonville trembled at the towering tide of the 
Lafourche. Lakes strove to burst their boundaries ; far-off river steamers tugged 
wildly at their cables, shivering like tethered creatures that hear by night the 
approaching howl of the destroyer." 

Statistics show the number of hurricanes in the West Indies in the last 
400 years to be about an average of one a year. More than three-fourths of 
these have occurred during the months of July, August and September. The 
balance of the trade winds breaks the force by friction and they are thus de- 
stroyed. Cyclones, once formed, are carried westward toward the West Indies. 



EARTHQUAKES 289 

They then move a little to the northwest and strike the United States, doing little 
or no damage according to the force. This undoubtedly explains the destruction 
of Galveston in the year 1900. 

TORNADOES— HOW THEY DIFFER FROM OTHER STORMS. 

Tornadoes differ from other storms in their excessive violence, their re- 
stricted area and their rapid advance. They are most numerous in Kansas, Mis- 
souri and Illinois. Their greatest frequency is in the afternoons of May, June 
and July. Quiet and calm usually precede them. Their advance is to the north- 
east and at the rate of thirty miles an hour. When first observed they are 
usually a dark, funnel-shaped, mass hanging from dark clouds. A roaring sound 
is heard all along the track. Within its funnel various objects may be detected 
which have been snatched from the ground in transit. At varying heights these 
objects are thrown out of the current and dropped with violence. There is sel- 
dom time to escape their track, yet one should make every effort to do so, pro- 
vided he keeps his presence of mind. Usually the storm has come and gone 
before those in its path have had time to think. 

The wind during the tornado often travels 100 miles an hour. In the trail 
of the storm's path strange freaks of nature are often seen, clothing is torn to 
rags, doors split to atoms, wheat driven many feet into the ground ; sister trees 
standing side by side, a few feet apart, one taken, the other left. The track 
averages only about one-half mile in width and the greatest destruction is fre- 
quently done within a hundred feet. 

An illustration of the damage by these storms is thus given by an eyewit- 
ness : A family, in attempting to save their lives, instantly rushed out of the 
house. The mother was carried three hundred yards, thrown against a barn 
and killed ; a boy of seven years was unharmed, the father and baby killed, and 
the house, a small frame building, was picked up and carried a half mile away 
and carefully set down as though nothing had disturbed it. But stranger still, 
it frequently happens that in houses where the windows and doors have been 
closed, the house explodes ; roofs are carried away, doors and windows broken 
outward, showing that the heated air makes its own way of escape. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
MYSTERY IN VOLCANOES. 

Millions of Lives the Toll — Awful last of Active Volcanoes — Light Shed on Mystery — 
Pompeii Eclipsed — Careful Study Made — Pacific Dotted with Volcanoes — Active Six 
Years at a Time — Many in United States. 

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens 
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth 
also and the works therein shall be burned up. — TI Peter 3: 10. 

Mont Pelee. Krakatoa, Bandaisan, Asama, Manna Loa, Vesuvius, Tacoma! 
Why not say these titles are inscriptions on gigantic human graves, rather 
than names of vent holes of smothering Mother Earth ? 

Each name, after the geologists and seismologists have all had their say, 
but stands for the blotting out of vast aggregations of humans — people who 
slept at night and in the dawn died under a rain of fire, ash and boiling mud. 

Volcanoes are nature's steam boilers, as erratic and irresponsible under 
extraordinary high pressure as any tubular affair of man's inclosed in the 
sheathing of a modern locomotive. 

Yet men are still so far removed from understanding that warm, pulsating 
nature above and in which they live, that they gasp when a mountain head blows 
up and shudder when the sky rains bloody ash. Ignorantly, hopefully they 
build granary and vineyard under the shadow of craters and close to the vent 
holes of earth's steam chests and laugh when science cries "Beware!" 

WARNINGS OF SCIENCE IGNORED. 

The world has had warning enough of eruptions and quakes to know, if it 
would heed, that whatever the actual inner condition of the earth be, eruptions 
and quakes are as certain to come as the sun after a storm. Within a radius of 
500 miles of the very Mont Pelee region, now so afflicted, science records the fol- 
lowing seismic events : 

Six eruptions in the sixteenth century. 

Eleven in the seventeenth century. 

Seventeen in the eighteenth century. 

Seventeen in the nineteenth century. 

Has there been any reason to suppose that staid, sober, dark-hued Pelee 
would not sooner or later follow the example of her sisters of the volcanic belt 
that encircles the- Caribbean and has one arm ending at Fuego and another in the 
arctic regions ? Shall it longer be doubted that Atlantis sunk in such a cataclysm 
to make way for the now America? 

Masaya vomited forth in 1522, Pacaya in 1565, Fuego five times between 

290 



292 EARTHQUAKES 

1 58 1 and 1623, Irazu in 1623, Momotombo in 1764, Ouemado in 1785, San 
Miguel in 1844, Masaya in 1858, Ilopango in 1880, Ometepe in 1883. Bandaisan 
was silent for centuries, and Krakatoa. Yet all these have unquestioned inti- 
mate connection with the vents, the boiling mass of Pelee, the unfortunate. 

Ciudad Vieja was engulfed by an earthquake in 1541, San Salvador in 1575, 
Antigua Guatemala in 1586, eastern Salvador in 1765, Cojuepeque in 1857, Am- 
atitlan in 1862, Patzitsia in 1874 — why not St. Pierre in 1902? 

MILLIONS OF LIVES ARE LOST. 

A volcano and a volcanic region are good things to let alone — to keep free 
from permanent settlement. Zorion estimates (1891) that since earthquakes 
and volcanic eruptions were first recorded by man more than 13,000,000 people 
have lost their lives through them. The property damage inflicted at the same 
time can never be estimated. It must extend into the billions of dollars. 

Take a map of the Barbadoes, Bermudas, the West Indies, Central America, 
and ask a geologist of note or a traveler of judgment where in the region there 
is freedom from volcanic action and quakes. He will rub his nose and ask for a 
larger map, and then, beginning at Terre del Fuego far to the south, make 
dots all the way north to Salvador, east to the Indies and west to the Pacific, 
and then north again through the Rockies, and Sierra Nevadas to the Sel- 
kirk's, and then on to the arctic regions, and he will say : 

"All I have dotted came from the depths by volcanic action or quakes, and 
that it should return by the same action is not only not impossible but probable. 
If the earth is cooling within, the process so far has been so slow that cessation 
from quakes and eruptions must be yet a million years away. 

"I confidently expect that the major part of the continents of the world, 
these United States, Asia, Europe, will be destructively altered over and over 
again before the earth reaches the last stage of solidity prior to again becoming 
gaseous." 

AWFUL LIST OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES. 

If he is inclined to be loquacious he will hold up his fingers and begin to 
count and name : 

"In Salvador alone, there are Tacuba, Apaneca, Santa Ana, Izalco, San Sal- 
vador, San Jacinto, Cojuepeque, San Vicente, Tecapa, Usulutan, Chinameca, 
San Miguel, Conchagua, Chingo, Gussapa, Matarra, Cacaguatique, Gotera, So- 
ciedad, all living volcanoes, all earth vents, of sufficient power when roused to 
make living mortals think the jaws of hell have opened for their reception. They 
are the warm, throbbing footstool of Mexico and the United States. In the 
United States, Hood is still smoking, and far to the north St. Augustine, 
which must have exploded ages ago, will certainly erupt in the years to come. 
Martinique has had its face changed, perhaps almost obliterated. Very well, 
why should not continents be thus changed? What did Bandaisan do?" 

On July 15, 1888, Bandaisan, having slept for ages, hurled a cloud of flame 



EARTHQUAKES 293 

and smoke to the Japanese sky. Then her head blew off, and sent, according 
to Professor Milne, sixteen hundred million cubic yards of rock and earth into 
the valley beneath. 

Cut this lava into chunks each the size of an ordinary street car and the 
train furnished would have been long enough to have encircled the earth five 
times — 125,000 miles. 

If these fragments had been blown into great shells as large as the largest 
ship afloat, with a displacement of 15,000 tons each, they would, if floated end to 
end, have bridged the Pacific from San Francisco to Yokohama. 

When Bandaisan vented her wrath on the earth a river of agglomerate 
poured down the valley at the rate of forty-eight miles an hour, and in twenty 
minutes had spread itself to a depth of 100 feet over a region from twelve to 
fifteen miles long and from five to seven miles wide. If New York City had 
been in that valley, or Chicago, 90 per cent of the population would never have 
had time to escape. As it was only 401 persons lost their lives, because there 
were only 401 present when Bandaisan started. 

Bandaisan changed a Japanese landscape of green into one of brown, 
burying houses and fields. Where no lake had been one was created by the 
damming of a mountain stream. This lake grew so rapidly that the peasants in 
its vicinity abandoned farming and took to fishing. The bowlders which were 
hurled from the volcano weighed four and five tons each, and had been hurled 
eight and ten miles from the crater. Professor Milne declares they fell with the 
velocity of a falling star. 



LIGHT SHED ON AWFUL MYSTERY. 

The best explanation or answer to the question ever given was prepared by 
Professor John Milne. He said : 

"The eruptions that build up mountains are periodical wellings over of 
molten lava, comparatively harmless. The eruptions accompanied with violent 
explosions occur irregularly and bring widespread destruction. It is easy to see 
in the building-up process how each streaming over of lava makes a mountain 
grow ; each fresh outgush hardens as it pours, and forms a fresh shell of lava 
for other shells to form on. 

"And, finally, when a certain height is reached — one, two, three miles — we 
may suppose the impelling force beneath no longer equal to the task of lifting 
this great column and the crater crusts over at the top ; and so generations pass, 
and men, with their short lives and shorter memories, say that the volcano is 
dead. 

"But the fires are there at the core, so much latent energy ready to be 
stirred ; and if something stirs them it is like rousing a thunderbolt. The fact 
that the natural vent above is blocked with the coolings of centuries only makes 
the discharge the more terrible when it comes, just as hard-rammed bullets make 
powder more effective. 



294 EARTHQUAKES 

"The cause that rouses the volcano's latent energy is the same that makes a 
boiler burst — the sudden and excessive generation of steam when the hot part of 
the volcano comes in contact with water. This contact may be due to various 
causes, as, for instance, the readjustment of strata or materials beneath, so that a 
lake or water course is turned into the crater. It may even be due to an irrup- 
tion of the sea, as at Krakatoa in 1883." 

LAVA DOES NOT ALWAYS FOLLOW. 

The professor was asked : 

"Does molten lava never come out in one of these violent explosions?" 

"Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not. It did in 1783, when Asama, a 
Japanese volcano, blew its head off, and the lava track may still be seen along 
the face of the mountain like a huge black serpent. But in cases like that the 
lava does not well out; it is driven out by the steam, just as rocks are driven out. 

"When no lava comes out the mud river gets the liquid to make it flow 
partly from steam and partly from water -it absorbs from springs and streams 
in its course. The mud river from Asama, for instance, lapped up two ordinary 
rivers as it went, so that no sign of them appeared thereafter. 

"There are volcanoes in the world at present, in Europe, in the United 
States, in England, that will one day or another blow their heads off, although 
there is no telling when the}- will do it. England has at least a dozen basal 
wrecks of volcanoes, mostly in the western Highlands, regarded as extinct, but 
Bandaisan has shown us what 'extinct' volcanoes will do. An 'extinct' 
volcano is very much like an old rusty gun — it may be loaded." 

FORTY-TWO VILLAGES OVERWHELMED. 

Landgrelle, an authority, regards the explosion of Asama, Japan, in 1873, 
as one of the most frightful eruptions in the history of volcanoes. Asama rises 
to a height of over 8,000 feet, and in its great paroxysm it sent down a river of 
mud from five to ten miles broad that overwhelmed forty-two villages. 

In some places the mud was so hot it did not stop boiling for twenty-four 
days. In the Tonezawa River immense masses of lava remained red hot even in 
the river itself. In Kurogano a stone 120 by 264 feet, one among many, fell in a 
river and formed an island. Two rivers were sucked up into the mud torrent 
and their places taken by dry land, and the noise of the explosion was like a 
thousand thunders. The lakes were poisoned and fish sickened, the rivers were 
full of dead dogs, deer and monkeys, with hair singed from their bodies. 

The crater of Asama as it stands to-day measures a mile and a quarter in 
circumference and never ceases to belch forth pungent, strangling odors of hydro- 
chloric acid and sulphurous anhyride, to breathe which is to die. The depth of 
the crater as now constituted cannot be determined. It is supposed to be 8,000 
feet to the bottom of its cup. 



296 EARTHQUAKES 

POMPEII DISASTER ECLIPSED. 

The eruption of Vesuvius, by which Pompeii was destroyed, was a compara- 
tively petty affair as compared with the performances of Bandaisan, Krakatoa and 
Mauna Loa. Mont Pelee and Soufriere, like the Krakatoa of 1883, have been 
obscure earth vents, but Pelee took more lives than Vesuvius and wrought more 
destruction. 

Mont Epomeo of Ischia is one of the volcanoes of the world classified as ex- 
tinct that was dormant 1,700 years and then exploded in 1302. Cosequina of 
Nicaragua cast forth such clouds of ashes in 1835 that utter darkness prevailed 
thirty-five miles distant and eight miles from the crater the ground was covered 
to a depth of ten feet. Some of the ashes fell at Kingston, Jamaica, 700 miles 
away. 

Cotopaxi hurled a 200-ton bowlder nine miles one summer's day. Mauna 
Loa belched forth a solid fountain of lava 1.000 feet wide and 900 feet high. 
The largest volcano in the western world is Popocatapetl, 19,643 feet high. Ta- 
coma, 15,000 feet high, is the largest volcano in the United States. It is "sup- 
posed" to be extinct, but only a few days before the dreadful catastrophe at San 
Francisco signs of activity were noted, and by some scientists this activity is 
connected with the San Francisco horror. 

VOLCANOES A FASCINATING STUDY. 

Scientists have dared death in its most appalling forms in order to study 
volcanoes actually at work, in the hope of snatching from them the secret of their 
being. Thus in the year 1767 Sir William Hamilton dared the terrors of Vesu- 
vius in one of its most violent eruptions in order to question it in scientific fashion 
of its phenomena and their cause. 

The volcano had been throwing out dust, scoria and gigantic "bombs" for 
months. It was hazardous in the extreme even to approach it. Yet so greatly 
did the scientific eagerness to know dominate Sir William's mind that he boldly 
went up the mountain to the highest point attainable. Fortunately for science he 
went on the day when the great outburst of lava occurred, and at fearful risk to 
himself he saw what happened. 

"On a sudden, about noon," says Sir William, "I heard a violent noise within 
the mountain, and at a spot about a quarter of a mile off the place where I stood 
the mountain split ; and with much noise from this new mouth a fountain of 
liquid fire shot up many feet high, and then, like a torrent, rolled on directly to- 
ward us. The earth shook at the same time that a volley of pumice stones fell 
thick upon us. In an instant clouds of black smoke and ashes caused almost to- 
tal darkness ; the explosions from the top of the mountain were much louder, than 
any thunder T ever heard, and the smell of the sulphur was offensive. My guide, 
alarmed, took to his heels, and I must confess that I was not at my ease. I fol- 
lowed close, and we ran nearly three miles without stopping. As the earth con- 
tinued to shake under our feet I was apprehensive of the opening of a fresh 



EARTHQUAKES 297 

mouth, which might cut off our retreat. I also feared that the violent explo- 
sions might detach some of the rocks off the mountain of Somma, under which 
we were obliged to pass ; besides the pumice stones, falling upon us like hail, were 
of such a size as to cause disagreeable sensations." 

CAREFUL STUDY MADE. 

Besides such risky study — including the late Professor Palmieri's daring 
life residence near the lip of the crater — science has prosecuted other and labori- 
ous researches into the causes of volcanic action. Careful calculations have been 
made to determine where the heat might come from, until we now know almost 
exactly how much rock must be pulverized by pressure in order to produce the 
temperatures of 2,000 degrees to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which have been 
found in the craters. 

Yet we do not know to-day with any sort of certainty or satisfaction what it 
is that causes volcanic action. There are many scientific theories, but each of 
them has been challenged by scientific criticism which apparently it cannot en- 
dure. 

For ages it has been recognized as a giant chimney, built by the actions of 
subterranean fires. Likewise these chimneys have been associated always with 
contiguous salt water. As to the conditions which control these chimneys giving 
vent to the fires of an under world, speculation has been rife for a thousand 
years. In general, superheated s + eam under the earth's crust is regarded as the 
active agent in a volcanic eruption. With most volcanoes, active or extinct, 
standing in proximity to sea water, the connection of steam with the phenome- 
non has been easy. Accounting for the subterranean fires has been the task. 

PACIFIC OCEAN DOTTED WITH VOLCANOES. 

Taking the map of the world, one sees the margins of the Pacific as well as 
its mighty bed to be the home of the volcano. All down the eastern coast of 
Asia and extending out into the tropical islands of the south Pacific is a continu- 
ous chain of volcanoes, active within recent times ; across the north Pacific, from 
Alaska to Kamschatka, are the craters in the Aleutian Islands, forming almost a 
bridge over the Pacific, and from Alaska down the western coast of North and 
South American continents is a string of the mightiest volcanoes in existence. 

Iceland is a seething caldron under its eternal snows, and in a hundred 
places where some great, jagged cone of a volcano rises, seemingly dead and life- 
less, only a firebrand in the hand of nature may be needed to awaken it to a fury 
like that of which its vast lava beds, pinnacles, and craters are so eloquent. 

In general, those volcanoes which have had longest periods of rest between 
eruptions have been most violent, and as a rule those cones sending out ashes 
are of the worst type. The theory of a long quiescent volcano breaking out with 
such renewed force is that the vent in the crater becomes choked by cooling rock 
until, when some sudden burst of steam forces an eruption, the whole top of the 
cone may be blown away. 



298 EARTHQUAKES 

VOLCANOES OF ICELAND. 

As to the extent of an eruption of a great volcano, Skaptan Jokul, in Ice- 
land, in 1783 made one of the world's records. 

The eruption began on June 1 1 of that year, having been preceded by violent 
earthquakes. A torrent of lava welled up into the crater, overflowed it, and ran 
down the sides of the cone into the channel of the River Skapta, completely dry- 
ing it up. The river had occupied a rocky gorge, from 400 to 600 feet deep and 
averaging 200 feet wide. 

This gorge was filled, a deep lake was filled, and the rock, still at white heat, 
flowed on into subterranean caverns. Tremendous explosions followed, throw- 
ing bowlders to enormous heights. A week after the first eruption another 
stream of lava followed the first, debouched over a precipice into the channel of 
another river, and finally, at the end of two years, the lava had spread over the 
plains below in great lakes twelve to fifteen miles wide and a hundred feet deep. 

Twenty villages were destroyed by fire, and out of 50,000 inhabitants nearly 
9,000 perished, either from fire or from noxious vapors. The Skapta River 
branch of this lava stream was fifty miles long and in places twelve to fifteen 
miles wide ; the other stream was forty miles long, seven miles broad, and the 
range of depth in each stream was from 100 to 600 feet. Professor Bischoff has 
called this, in quantity, the greatest eruption of the world, the lava, piled, having 
been estimated as of greater volume than is Mont Blanc. 

MANY ERUPTIONS OF HECLA RECORDED. 

Mount Hecla stands isolated and snow clad about twenty miles from the 
southwest coast of Iceland. Its principal crater when visited by Sir George 
MacKenzie was about one hundred feet deep, and contained a large quantity of 
snow in the bottom. There are many secondary craters near the summit. The 
sides of the volcano are broken by numerous deep ravines, forming channels for 
mountain torrents produced by the melting of the snow. The view from the 
summit is very desolate and wild. Fantastic groups of hills, craters and lava, 
leading the eye to distant, snow-covered jokuls ; the mist rising from a waterfall ; 
lakes shut in bare, bleak mountains ; an awful and profound slumber, lowering 
clouds ; marks all around of the most destructive of the elements, give to the re- 
gion a character of desolation scarcely to be paralleled. 

No wonder the Icelandic sagas are grim and their gods terrible! The old 
civilization of Iceland has preserved the record of the eruptions of Hecla since 
the tenth century. Of these there have been forty-three, always very violent and 
generally continuing for a considerable time. One of the most tremendous 
occurred in 17S3, when the immense quantity of lava and ashes ejected laid 
waste a large extent of country. The internal fire remained as if exhausted and 
was quiescent till September, 1845, when with terrific energy it again burst forth 
and continued active for more than a year. It poured forth a torrent of 
lava which two miles from the crater was a mile wide and forty or fifty feet 




CO 



300 EARTHQUAKES 

deep, and the fine dust from this eruption fell on the Orkneys, four hundred 
miles away. 

ACTIVE FOR SIX YEARS AT A TIME. 

Iceland, as one of the hotbeds of volcanic energy, presents in marked man- 
ner the ills that come upon a district which suffers from volcanic eruptions. 
Hecla has been known to be active for a period of six years at a time. While 
throwing out its vapors, fumes, and solids, the people of the island contiguous to 
the volcano have verged upon starvation. Their principal food supply comes 
from their fisheries and from their cattle. As to the fishing, it is practically de- 
stroyed because of the vast amount of hot lava that is discharged into the sea 
and because of the activity of boiling springs which pour hot water into the neigh- 
boring ocean. 

As for the cattle, they suffer in a most peculiar manner. The ashes and 
pumice stone are thrown to great heights and settle in great clouds upon the pas- 
tures. Aside from this making the grass tasteless, the cattle, in trying to eat in 
pasture, take the ashes and fine pumice into their mouths. This cuts the enamel 
from their teeth, finally leaving the brutes in such misery that they cannot eat the 
grass that is there for their sustenance, and they die of slow starvation. On 
many occasions Denmark has been called upon to aid the Icelanders in such 
emergencies. 

PERIL IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Though in the geologic minute or second during which white men have lived 
in the United States there have been no great volcanic catastrophes such as have 
overwhelmed districts of our neighbor, Mexico, there are volcanoes in the United 
States. Though they are supposed to be extinct, history has proved that the 
term "extinct" is only relative ; that cones which for ages have seemed dead sud- 
denly have broken out with all the furies of the under world. Etna, for in- 
stance, had been classed as active in the Odyssey, while for a thousand years be- 
fore 79 A. D. Vesuvius had been regarded as extinct. In that year it burst forth 
in a manner to force the story of it to the end of history. In the years in which 
Vesuvius was quiet the volcanoes on the Island of Ischia, forming one of the 
arms of the Bay of Naples, and known to have belonged to the Vesuvian chain, 
were active; after the stupendous outbreak of Vesuvius in 79, however, these vol- 
canoes slumbered for 1,700 years. To all appearances they were extinct, when, 
after all these centuries, they became active again. 

With reference to these volcanoes and this volcanic district, other vents were 
open in this 1,700 years, and earthquakes were of frequent occurrence. This 
would tend to show that the volcanic conditions were still in existence and more 
or less potent. To-day, speaking of extinct volcanoes, those of the Andes in 
South America seem to be most certainly of this class. But no one in the scien- 
tific world to-day has the temerity to say just where is the volcanic cone that is 
dead past all awakening. 



EARTHQUAKES 301 

MANY VOLCANOES IN UNITED STATES. 

Regarding the volcanoes of the United States proper, Mount Shasta, in Cali- 
fornia, is one of the most interesting of them. It has an altitude of 14,350 feet, 
towering more than a mile above its nearest neighbor. Four thousand feet of its 
peak are above timber line, covered with glaciers, while the mountain's base is 
seventeen miles in diameter. Shasta is almost continually showing slight evi- 
dences of its internal fires. 

Another of the famous cones is that of Mount Hood, standing 11,225 f eet > 
snow-capped, and regarded as extinct as a volcano. Other peaks are Mount 
Baker, Mount Tacoma (Rainier), Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Jef- 
ferson, Three Sisters, Mounts Mazama, Scott, Union, Pitt, Lossen Peak, Span- 
ish Peaks, and Mount Taylor. 

As to the volcanic records of the great West, they may be read in the great 
chains of mountains that stretch from Alaska, 10,000 miles to Terra del Fuego. 
In the giant geysers and hot springs of the Yellowstone Park are evidences of 
existing fires in the United States, while as to the extent of seismic disturbances 
of the past, the famous Lava Beds, in which Captain Jack, the Modoc Chief, held 
out against United States troops till starved into submission, are volcanic areas 
full of mute testimony regarding nature's convulsions. These lava beds are 
mazes of intricate passages in the rocks, formed by the processes of cooling and 
settling. 

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY FREE. 

In general the Mississippi Valley is not interested in vital ways concerning the 
volcano or its earthquaking accompaniment. It is conceded that the valley of the 
Mississippi had its experiences with molten lava long before recorded time, and 
the glacial drift has buried most of it hundreds of feet below the level of the city 
of Chicago. In the Lake Superior country, however, in the copper and iron de- 
posits of the region, are to be found the evidences of volcanic heat among the 
rocks. Thus, lacking anything approaching a vent or cone the valley of the great 
river may be regarded as fairly secure from a possible eruption, however little 
the modern scientist claims to know of the phenomena. 

Concerning the possible eruption of one of our own volcanoes, Mr. H. T. 
Cleveland writes as follows : 

I stood one morning on the summit of Mount Hood, some 11,000 feet above 
the sea's level. Hood is a volcano, not extinct, although long silent — so long 
that on the cascades about her the pine trees have risen for ages a::d the whole 
valley and gorge to Portland is a mass of verdure and bloom. An Italian friend 
with me commented on how much more beautiful the scene was than at Vesu- 
vius, and I made the half-jesting remark : 

"No lava will ever again disturb this spot." 

Our half-breed guide looked at me incredulously, and when we began our 
descent called attention to the rings of sulphur smoke rising from what I sup- 
pose would be called the 'mother crater.' We drew as near to the edge as we 



302 EARTHQUAKES 

dared and laid down, and a throbbing within the bosom of the peak was dis- 
tinctly heard. It might be described as the sound of a far-away train coming- 
through the hills with a continual roar of effort. 

"Some day/' said my friend, "Hood will lift her crown of snow and hurl it 
into the distant ocean ; she will fill this gap through which the Columbia cuts and 
create an inland sea ; she will shower fire and destruction on Portland and the 
towns of this green valley, and the survivors of that day will wonder why they 
never thought of such horror before." 

Perhaps he was right. The same was said of Pelee years ago and has come 
true. But we descended into the valley and we came to Portland, and from City 
Park we looked back to the beautiful head of Hood, pink in the sunset, and my 
imaginative companion exclaimed : 

"I should like to stand here when that day of fire comes and witness it — and 
escape." 

DANGER IN ALASKA. 

Scientists hold to the opinion, though, that St. Augustine in the Alaskan re- 
gion is much more likely to blow its head off before Hood or Tacoma do. 
If we can trust outward signs it is several thousand years since Hood or 
Tacoma spoke, but St. Augustine is always in a state of disturbance, and 
recent seismic shocks in her vicinity would indicate that the pressure is grow- 
ing too great for her and that she will within near time blast out the present 
physical features of her region and make new outlines. 

As to the West Indies group, scientists agree that fire and quake origin- 
ally created them, and that the convulsion also formed the Caribbean Sea, 
gave Florida a lusty leg and heaped up Salvador and the Central American 
chain. Resting as these regions do on gases and fire, built up on thin crust, 
close by where waters of ocean and internal fires of earth may meet, it is 
not unreasonable to believe that within early time (as earth-making goes, a 
century or so) all that has been there will not be. 

ASHES IN UNALASKA. 

It seems only natural that while there are volcanic disturbances in the 
West Indies there should be similar happenings in Central America. What is 
felt in the islands might well be felt in the adjacent mainland. The coinci- 
dence need occasion no alarm. 

It is a little bit different, however, with the trouble at Unalaska. Una- 
laska is one of the Aleutian Islands. It is about 7,000 miles from Martinique. 
It is far enough away to deserve exemption from the effects of that catas- 
trophe in the underworld which has wrought such havoc on the surface. It 
seems, however, that for some time the westerly winds have brought to 
Unalaska a deposit of fine ashes, as if from a volcano. Also, the island has 
been itself shaken by earthquakes. One can hardly believe that the eruptions 
in any part of the world of late have been great enough to send ashes to any 
unusual distance. 




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304 



EARTHQUAKES 



ASIAN VOLCANO MAY BE ACTIVE. 

The deposits in Unalaska were made before the eruption in Martinique. 
It must be that some volcano in northeastern Asia has been roused to 
exceptional activity. It is true that when in 1883 the Island of Krakatoa 
was broken to pieces by a discharge of volcanic matter the ashes were car- 
ried all the way around the earth and resulted now in a kind of continuous 
twilight and again in sunsets of extraordinary beauty. 

The phenomena at Unalaska are probably caused by disturbances purely 
local. A volcano in Kamschatka could well send ashes along the Aleutian 
Islands. The way in which Sahara dust travels up into Norway proves that. 
If, then, there is a renewal of volcanic activity in northeastern Asia, the 
question presents itself whether there is any connection between the vol- 
canoes of that part of the world and the volcanoes of the West Indies. 

If the right answer to this question is the affirmative, people who are 
living in the intervening districts are rather directly concerned. If the 
monster forces of the interior of the earth have a kind of rendezvous from 
which they issue now to this and now to that aperture, the dangers of a 
°eneral convulsion are largely increased. 




THE CITY HAIvl, AND COURT HOUSE IN I,OS ANGELES. 
Badly Shaken. 




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